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RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 



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ROBERT CARTER AND BRQTHER3. 



Recognition After Death 



BY THE 



REV. J. ASPINWALL HODGE, D.D. 




NEW YORK 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS 

530 Broadway 



( N ^ 




* 









Copyright, 1889, by 
Robert Carter & Brothers. 



The Li-r <? 
of Confess* 



j 



PREFACE. 

As a pastor, I have found persons doubt- 
ing the possibility of the recognition of souls 
after death. The thought of heaven was 
therefore less attractive to them than it should 
be, and the idea of reunion brought no con- 
solation when they were mourning the death 
of loved ones. The separation seemed to them 
unending. I have been surprised that very 
many, while believing the precious truth, are 
anxious to learn upon what grounds it rests, 
and by what means the recognition is to be 
secured. At present the Christian public is 
much interested in every question which in- 
volves the state of the soul after death. Many 



vi PREFACE. 

excellent books have been written on the 
general subject, but few of these do more than 
touch upon recognition. I therefore send 
forth this little book, designed to show that we 
shall hereafter see and know each other, pray- 
ing that it may bring comfort and new antici- 
pations to many who are sorrowing over the 
separations which death is accomplishing in 
their home circles. 

J. A. H. 

Hartford, Conn., i88g. 



RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 



I. 

IMMOETALITY AND EECOGNITION. 

r I ''HE immortality of the soul has always 
been very generally admitted. There 
is a real difference between mind and matter, 
soul and body. We are spiritual persons, for 
a time dwelling in the flesh. Our bodies, 
with their many infirmities, are recognized as 
great hindrances — oar physical faculties are 
too few, and too imperfect to satisfy our 
desires. We long for clearer and wider vi- 
sion, more perfect hearing, and more rapid 

means of transportation. These aspirations 

11 



12 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

lead to manifold inventions in all ages and 
places. The short space, during which our 
bodies can stand the wear and tear of this 
spiritual activity, and the increasing infirmi- 
ties of the flesh, produce an almost universal 
conviction that, however dependent our souls 
may now be on our bodies, they can and must 
continue to live after " the dust returns to the 
earth as it was." ] This is not merely a general 
hope. It is an instinct of human nature, 
which produces an assurance alike in the sav- 
age and in the civilized, in the heathen and 
in those taught by revelation, and in all ages 
and under all circumstances. Ancient my- 
thologies and all forms of modern true and 
false religions are the expressions and dev- 
elopments of the conviction, that the soul is 
immortal, and will live and act after the body 
dies. It is true that in some cases this instinct 

1 Eccle. sii. 7. 



IMMORTALITY AND RECOGNITION. 13 

may seem to be overpowered by dread or by 
arguments, but seldom, if ever, can it be 
eradicated. 

With the certainty of immortality has ^ 
always been associated the conviction that 
disembodied souls recognize each other. In- 
deed these two thoughts go together. They 
are taught by the same natural instinct, they 
necessarily involve each other, and mutually 
depend upon the permanent characteristics of 
the soul. The ancient poets and soothsayers, 
in every description of the spirit world, called 
the souls by their earthly names and repre- 
sented them as associating and co-operating, as 
communicating information and feeling, as they 
had done in this world. They spoke indeed 
of the waters of Lethe, but only because in 
some cases forgetfulness was deemed neces- 
sary. The Egyptians and Hindoos, in main- 
taining their doctrine of the transmigration of 



14 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

souls, were forced to account in some way for 
the unnatural inability to recall the experi- 
ences in former states and bodies. 

There are some forms of Christian beliefs 
which involve the denial of the recognition of 
souls. Certain views of the final judgment 
require the assumption that between death 
and the last day all are in an undetermined 
state, asleep— unconscious of their own exist- 
ence and the presence of others. Many 
regard the soul as so dependent upon the 

bodily organs that it can perceive neither ma- 
terial nor spiritual things. Such conclusions 
do violence to our natures and our instinctive 
aspirations, and ought not to be received, 
unless clearly taught in the Word of God. 
What the Scriptures teach on the subject we 
shall presently examine. But let us remem- 
ber that those who believe in immortality, 
naturally and very generally hold that after 



IMMORTALITY AND RECOGNITION. 15 

the death of the body we shall possess and 
exercise, at least, the same mental and spirit- 
ual faculties that we do now, that we shall 
know each other, and shall communicate and 
co-operate. This conation is so strong as 
almost to be an assurance. Indeed it is seldom 
formally denied. 



II. 

OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 

T3 EFORE considering the grounds for this 
general conviction, it may be well to 
examine some of the objections which have 
been urged against this precious doctrine. 

I. The dependence of the soul upon the 
body. It is asserted that so close is the union, 
and so absolute the dependence, that the one 
can do nothing without the other. No infor- 
mation can reach the soul save through the 
bodily organs, and by these alone can there 
be any expression of feeling and will. This 
statement must be received with some reser- 
vation. For while God usually reveals His 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 17 

will through the reading and hearing of His 
word, He is by no means thus restricted. In 
inspiration He has often imparted truth by 
vision and audible voice, but also not unfre- 
quently has operated directly upon the spirits 
of the prophets. The method may not be 
understood, but men " spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost," 1 and " searched 
what or what manner of time the Spirit of 
Christ which was in them did signify." 2 In 
regeneration and sanctification, outward means 
are used, but the Spirit also works immediate- 
ly, producing the new birth and transformation 
after trie image of God. In temptation, an 
unseen and spiritual contest is carried on, the 
angels minister and strengthen, and devils 
blind and harden the heart and strive to 
" deceive the very elect." 

Nevertheless there is a real dependence 
1 II Pet. i. 21. UPet. i. 1 1 



18 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

upon the body. The five senses are the ap- 
pointed channels of communication with 
external objects. If these be one by one 
destroyed, we are gradually shut in, and at 
last are unable to perceive or express any- 
thing. But it must be remembered that the 
faculties of perception still remain after the 
organs are destroyed. A prisoner in a dun- 
geon would possess sight and hearing, even if 
no ray of light nor wave of sound could reach 
him. Or if through some opening he could 
catch a glimpse of the outer world, his power 
of vision would not be destroyed if that loop- 
hole were again closed. Prison doors have 
been opened and the solitary one has been 
brought forth to wider vision and perfect lib- 
erty. Through the little orifice of the eye we 
can see something, but when this prison house 
of flesh shall be destroyed we shall go forth 
to clear light and perfect vision. u Now we 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 19 

see through a glass darkly, but then face to 
face." ' One born deaf, nevertheless possesses 
the faculty of hearing. If by an operation the 
obstructions are removed and sounds reach 
the auditory nerve, the unknown sense awak- 
ens with delight. Could the sensitive soul be 
set free from its present encasement, it would 
drink in the harmony by which it would be 
surrounded. Moses, on the mount of transfig- 
uration, needed not the organs of his body, 
which was still " buried in the land of Moab. ,? 2 
The souls under the altar and the redeemed 
from the earth, while waiting for the resurrec- 
tion, can hear and join the praises which sur- 
round the throne, and can speak, u Oh Lord 
how long ? " and receive the answer " that 
they should rest yet for a little season." 3 

II. The character of the judgment. 
Some assert that the souls both of the right- 

1 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 2 Deut. xxxiv. 6. zRqy. vi. 10, 11. 



20 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

eous and of the wicked must be in a state 
of unconsciousness, and are described as 
" asleep " until the trial at the last day, when 
they are to be judged of the deeds done in the 
body, and their everlasting reward or punish- 
ment is to be determined. And that this final 
judgment would be unmeaning, if at death 
they enter into blessedness or misery. 

The force of this objection lies -in a misinter- 
pretation of Scripture, and a wrong view of 
the character of the judgment. The word 
" asleep " is applied to the dead, and in the 
New Testament only to the righteous dead; and 
evidently in every passage refers to the state of 
the body and not to that of the soul. "Many 
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." 1 
" I go that I may awake him [Lazarus] out 
of sleep." 2 " We shall not all sleep, but we 
shall all be changed." 3 Even " the souls un- 

1 Dan. xii. 2. 2 John xi. 11. 3 I Cor. xv. 51. 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED, 21 

der the altar, w while u resting yet a little 
season/' 1 make their petitions, receive their 
white robes and are told to wait for theii* 
fellow-servants. It was not to unconscious- 
ness that our Lord welcomed the dying thief 
— " To-day shalt thou be with me in Para- 
dise." 8 

The object of the final judgment is not to 
determine, as in an earthly court, whether 
we be guilty or not guilty, what degrees of 
reward or punishment each should receive^ 
nor whether we be in Christ or out of Christ. 
To a certain degree even we, and while we are 
still in the flesh, are assured of proper answers 
to these questions. And to God, the Judge, 
all things are known from the beginning. 
" He needed not that any should testify of 
man, for He knew what was in man." 3 He 
knows His own sheep, " whom the Father 
1 Rev. vi. 11. 2 Luke xxiii. 43. 3 John ii. 25. 



22 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

hath given." ' The angels "that are sent forth 

to minister to them who shall be the heirs of 

salvation " 2 can distinguish between u the 

sheep and the goats." 3 The judgment is the 

grand exhibition of the glory of Christ, in 

which He will publicly pronounce sentence 

upon each, vindicate all His dealings with 

men and devils, exhibit the universality of 

His absolute and undisputed dominion over 

all, and before His Father and the holy angels 

openly acknowledge and acquit His redeemed 

and banish His enemies. (See "Confession of 

Faith," chap. 32; "Shorter Catechism, q. 38, 

and all that the Scriptures say of the judgment, 

as in Matthew xxv: and in II Thessalonians 

i.) To attain these objects, He u shall bring 

every work into judgment, with every secret," 

thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. "4 

> John x. 27, 29. 2 Heb. i. 14. 

3 Matt. xiii. 49; xxv. 32. * Eccle. xii. 14. 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 23 

At the resurrection we shall indeed " lift up 
our heads, for our redemption draweth nigh/' l 
u We are waiting for the adoption, to wit, the 
redemption, of our bodies." 2 We shall then 
" enter into the joy of our Lord," 3 " inherit 
the kingdom prepared for us from the founda- 
tion of the world." 4 But this does not neces- 
sitate the unnatural and unscriptural assump- 
tion that until the last great day we must 
remain in silent dormitories, unconscious of 
self or others, and insensible to happiness or 
misery. 

III. The character of heaven. The 
Scriptures teach that "to be absent from the 
body is to be present with the Lord." 5 And 
they describe the bliss of heaven as consisting 
in beholding the face of Christ, admiring His 
glory and praising His infinite grace. It is 

i Luke xxi. 28. 2 Eom. viii. 23. a Matt. xxv. 23. 
* Matt. xxv. 34. * II Cor. v. 8. 



24 RECOGNITION AFTER BE A TH. 

said, however, that so ecstatic will be this vi- 
sion, that the whole soul will be absorbed in 
the contemplation and in the expression of de- 
light. That the consciousness of other objects, 
however beautiful or loved, would be distract- 
ing and would destroy perfect enjoyment. 

This is an unauthorized assumption. It 
may be true, because of present infirmity, that 
when we come suddenly upon a grand view of 
beauty or power^-as on some mountain top or 
near a mighty cataract — we are overwhelmed 
with wonder and gaze with delight, forgetful 
of everything else. We are alone, though 
multitudes may stand with us. Speech is 
an interruption not to be permitted. But as 
we begin to appreciate the grandeur, our na- 
tures demand expression and sympathy. We 
must utter God's praise and call on rocks and 
trees and men to join us in our song. Our 
joy cannot otherwise be complete. . 4dam 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 25 

found not, in the garden of Eden, a paradise 
until Eve was given to join in his worship. 
Heaven would not be heaven if each soul were 
isolated in solitary awe. Indeed we cannot 
see Christ alone. "He that seeth me, seeth 
My Father also' 71 — not merely because "He is 
in the Father and the Father in Him/ 7 but also 
because the Father and the Son are always to- 
gether. u If a man love me, he will keep my 
words, and my Father will love him, and we 
will come unto him and make our abode with 
him." 2 At conversion we are led by the Holy 
Ghost to the Son, who presents us to the 
Father. The three persons cannot be disso- 
ciated. If we receive or reject one, we 
necessarily receive or reject the others. If 
we hold communion with the Son, we do so 
with the Father and Spirit. When "we see 
Christ as He is," 3 we shall also see the Father 
1 John xii. 45; xiv. 9. 2 Joan xiv. 23. 3 John iii. 2 



26 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

face to face, and admiringly worship the three 
persons of the Godhead. The glory will be 
overpowering, we may even u fall at His feet 
as dead men/ 7 ] until He touches us, and speaks 
to us, and calls forth our expressions of adora- 
tion. When Joseph made himself known to 
his brethren, they u could not answer him," 
but he drew them near, talked a good while, 
kissed them and wept upon them, u after that 
they talked with him >f and were filled with 
real joy. 2 

This Triune God is never alone. When- 
ever manifested, He is surrounded by adoring 
beings. At the creation all the angels 
"shouted for joy." 3 The cherubim indicated 
His presence at the gates of Eden, and on 
the mercy seat. Whenever He revealed 
Himself to the patriarchs, the people from 
Sinai, or to the prophets, He was accompa- 

1 Rev. i. 17. 2 Gen. xlv. 3-15. 3 Job xxxviii. 7. 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 27 

nied by angels. When Jesus was seen in His 
glory in the incarnation, in the transfiguration, 
in the atonement, in the resurrection and 
ascension, He was surrounded by ministering 
spirits, and when He shall come a second time, 
it shall be with the innumerable hosts of God. 1 
Buddha may be represented as absorbed in 
silent self-contemplation, but our God is ever 
associated with His creatures, thinking upon 
them and receiving their adoration. When 
we, like John on Patmos, see the Lamb in the 
midst of the throne, we shall behold the four 
living creatures and the four and twenty elders 
and the innumerable company of saints and 
angels. We cannot therefore see God with- 
out beholding also the hosts of heaven, hearing 
their adoration and being drawn into their 
communion. 

The nature of God is expressed in His 
1 Matt. xxv. 31. 



28 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

works and more clearly revealed in His com- 
mandments. These are summed up in two 
tables which cannot be separated. Love to 
God involves love to men. " If a man say, I 
love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar ; 
for he that loveth not his brother, whom he 
hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath 
not seen ? " l This is true, however love is 
manifested. " If thou bring thy gift to the 
altar, and there rememberest that thy brother 
hath aught against thee ; leave there thy gift 
before the altar and go thy way, first be rec- 
onciled to thy brother and then come and 
offer thy gift." 2 Worship in service must be 
unto the Lord and in co-operation with others. 
No member can say to others, "I have no 
need of you." 3 Full communion with the Lord 
is only possible in communion with His peo- 
ple. This necessity does not arise from our 
1 I John iv. 20. 2 Matt. v. 23, 24. 3 i Cor. xii. 21. 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 29 

present condition, but from the character of 
God as revealed in His law. The more we 
admire and adore God, the more must we ad- 
mire Him "in all them that believe/ 7 ' and join 
in their adoration. "His delights are in the 
sons of men," 2 and they who are transformed 
into His image, in heaven as on earth, love 
Him with all the heart, and their neighbor as 
themselves. Communion of saints is a part 
of the joy of heaven and is essential to the 
worship of Christ. When the three disciples 
"were eye witnesses of His majesty" 3 in the 
holy mount, they saw also Moses and Elias, al- 
though " His face did shine as the sun, and 
His raiment was white as the light." 4 When 
the eleven beheld Him ascend to His glory at 
the right hand of the Father — they saw also 
the angels which stood by them.* And when 

1 II Thes. i. 10. « Prov. viii. 31. s II Peter i. 16. 
4 Matt. xvii. 2, 3. 5 Acts i. 10, 11. 



39 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

He comes again every eye shall see Him and 
the holy angels with Him. 1 

IV. Our own natures. God has made us 
of one blood, and has set us in families. We 
are bone of bone and flesh of flesh. Charac- 
ter ? mental and spiritual peculiarities, are 
transmitted from parent to child, and distin- 
guish and bind together families in unions 
most close and lasting. It is the impulse of 
nature and the highest teaching of religion, 
" to love one another," " to lay down our lives 
for the brethren," 2 and to endure any self-sac- 
rifice for the safety and happiness of our own. 
It is said that with such natures, to us heaven 
would be an impossibility if recognition were 
permitted. For how could a parent be happy, 
if among the redeemed he would miss the child 
over whom he had always yearned with heart 
desire and prayer that he might be saved. 
1 Rev. i. 7. 2 I John iii. 16. 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED. 31 

This objection is a seriors one, and may 
not be fully answered at present. But inabil- 
ity to recognize would only incraase the diffi- 
culty and the anguish, leav'ng us forever 
uncertain as to the destiny of each and all 
whom we have loved, and causing us to begin 
eternity as absolute strangers. Such a thought 
is in violation of every instinct of our nature. 
It were better to believe that G-od could in 
some way comfort us concerning the absence 
of a few, than to conclude it necessary that 
He should conceal from us His most righteous 
decisions in regard to all. 

The Scriptures teach that our condition 
after death is the continuation, as well as the 
result, of our life on earth and of Grod's deal- 
ings with us. Love for each other and the 
communion of saints will be perfected there, 
not destroyed. It is divine comfort, as well 
as human hope, which, with David, says as 



32 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

each dear one leaves us — "I shall go to him, 
but he shall not return to me." l " They shall 
receive us into everlasting habitations." 2 It 
were better to hold fast this assurance, impart- 
ed alike by instinct and inspiration, even 
were we unable to conceive how the promised 
happiness can be secured. Yet we admire 
the patriot who, from love of country, will not 
know son or daughter who has proved a trai- 
tor to fatherland. We do not blame the 
apostles because, through love to Christ, they 
made no lamentation at the death of Judas, 
who had betrayed their Master with a kiss. 
And when we shall understand the real char- 
acter of sin, and the guilt of trampling under 
foot the Son of God, we will hate father and 
mother, son and daughter, who are the deter- 
mined enemies of our Lord and Saviour. We 
cannot indeed bear the thought now, because 
• II Sam. xii. 23. 2 Luke xvi. 9. 



OBJECTIONS EXAMINED, 33 

their probation is not ended, and we are 
prompted by our own natures, by the example 
of Christ, and by the impulse of the Holy 
Ghost, to yearn over them and to labor for 
their salvation. But when infinite love says 
"It is enough—' 7 "they be joined to their 
idols w — " let them alone n 1 — we will see the 
justice and holiness of God ; and as we 
love Him, we can not love them who hate 
God and are under His curse. We will be in 
Christ, and regard all things as related to Him. 
We will love them who love Christ, but w^ 
will have no fellowship with nor interest in 
those who hate Him. 

Other objections have been urged. But 
they all arise from ignorance, want of 
experience, or from inferences drawn from 
what we suppose to be truth, or which seem 
necessary to remove certain difficulties. They 
1 Hosea iv. 17. 



34 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA Til. 

are overcome by a clearer knowledge of what 
has been revealed in the Scriptures, and by 
faith that Christ can secure perfect happiness 
to His saints in communion with Him and each 
other. 



III. 

TEACHING OF SCULPTURES. 

HHE only reliable information concerning 
the state of the soul after death is to be 
found in the Word of God. The instruction 
thus given is far more definite than is gener- 
ally supposed. Much is presented by direct 
statement, and by comparison and contrast 
with what we have seen and experienced. 
And much is assumed as undeniably true and 
not needing proof or illustration. As the be- 
ing of God is taken for granted, as an unde- 
niable fact, so is the permanency of the essen- 
tial characteristics of our nature. We must 

always possess intelligence, affections, a con- 

35 



36 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

science, a self-determining will, and we will 
ever exercise these faculties towards God and 
each other. Every passage presumes that we 
will be hereafter, as now, reverential and 
social beings — loving God and one another. 
This necessarily includes recognition, com- 
munion with Christ, His angels and His 
redeemed. 

Those passages, therefore, are pertinent to 
this question, which ascribe distinguishing 
names to angels and to devils, and describe 
them as conversing, co-operating or contend- 
ing with each other and with the souls in 
heaven or hell, and with men in the flesh. It 
is assumed that angels, though spirits, can 
recognize each other — when we are told of 
their creation, their union as the hosts of 
God, their organization as principalities and 
powers in high places, their history, some 
keeping their first estate and others sinning 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 37 

and being cast out of heaven, reserved unto 
judgment/ their employment in the mysteries 
of providence and redemption, 2 and their con- 
nection with material things and beings, 
severally appointed over nations, 3 ministering 
to saints, 4 guarding the body of Moses 5 — filling 
the air, 6 covering the hills, 7 entering Eden, 8 
" going to and fro in the earth, and walking 
up and down in it," 9 appearing unto men, con- 
versing with them, tempting them, possessing 
their bodies, or delivering them from prison. 10 
If spirits can thus fellowship, and can 
have dealings with men, recognition of souls 
is not an impossibility, but a necessity. If 
Michael can dispute with the devil, Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob can converse. If Gabriel 
could tell Mary that she should conceive a 

1 Jude, 6. 2 Matt. iv. 6. 3 D an . x . 13-21. < Heb. i. 14. 
6 Jnde, 9. 6 Eph. ii. 2. * 1I Kings vi. 17. 8 Gen. iii. 1. 
9 Job ii. 2. 'o Acts xii. 7. 



38 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

Son, 1 farther communications did not become 
impossible when the virgin mother, also as a 
spirit, u stood before God." And the angel 
which showed John the New Jerusalem from 
the Isle of Patmos, showed him great things 
when he entered with him into this spiritual 
city. 

It may be said, that, whenever spirits held 
communications with men, they assumed some 
corporeal form, and that this is necessary. 
But the thought now urged is, that spirits can 
see and converse with spirits, and angels with 
angels, and therefore souls with souls. Nor is 
it true that when the immaterial hold inter- 
course with the material, it must have fleshly 
organs. Abraham is not described as seeing 
the angel which called to him out of heaven. 
Saul's companions heard a voice, but saw no 
one. Satan did appear to Eve as a serpent. 
1 Luke i. 31. 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 39 

Angels to the patriarchs as travellers, and to 
the Marys as young men, to remove fear and 
gain attention without distraction. It is our 
infirmities, and not our spirits' necessities, 
which make visible forms expedient. Our 
bodily eyes cannot discern spiritual things, 
else we could see at all times, as the servant 

of Elisha did when Ms eyes were opened, u the 
mountains full of horses and chariots of fire 

round about God's people," 1 u ministering to 
them who shall be the heirs of salvation." 4 
Even Moses had to conceal his face with a 
veil when on Sinai his skin caught some of 
the spiritual glory ; 3 and Christ humbled 
Himself as the Man of Sorrow that He might 
be the friend of sinners. When the three dis- 
ciples saw His glory in the mount — " They 
were sore afraid," as were the shepherds, who 
heard the angels' song near Bethlehem. It is 
1 II Kings vi. 17. 2 Heb. i. 14 3 Ex. xxxiv. 35. 



40 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

expedient for us, not necessary for the spirits, 
that they appear as men, and although we do 
not perceive them, "in their hands they bear 
us up, lest at any time we dash our foot 
against a stone." x 

In the Old Testament death is often 
described thus — " Thou shalt go to thy 
fathers." 2 "He was gathered to his people/' 3 
or " to his fathers." 4 That these expressions 
do not refer to the burial of the body is 
evident, because they are used only in regard 
to the righteous dead, and have in all cases an 
evident connection with the covenant made 
with Abraham and his seed ; and because 
they sometimes describe the departure of 
those who were not buried in family sep- 
ulchres, as Abraham, Moses, and David. 
They can refer only to the promise and hope 

■ Matt. iv. 6. 2 Gen . xv. 15. 

3 Num. xx. 24. 4 Acts. xiii. 36. 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 41 

of meeting the souls of those who had died in 
faith — " so great a cloud of witnesses/ 71 who 
have entered the rest and inherited the 
promises. " The God of Abraham, and the 
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," is u not 
the God of the dead but of the living." 2 

This expectation of again seeing those who 
have died is frequently expressed, as by 
David concerning his child, " I shall go to 
him." 3 It is promised by Christ. " Ye shall 
see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all 
the prophets in the kingdom of God." " And 
they shall come from the east, and from the 
west, and from the north, and from the south, 
and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God." 4 
" That ye may eat and drink at My table." 5 
" Blessed are they which are called unto the 

1 Heb. xii. 1. 2 Matt. xxii. 32. 3 n Sam. xii. 23. 
4 Luke xiii. 28, 29. s Luke xxii. 30. 



42 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

marriage supper of the Lamb." * It is either 
directly asserted or pre-supposed in every 
passage that refers to heaven, and especially 
in all those parables which represent that 
place as a kingdom, a house with servants, a 
great supper, a marriage feast, a city, a 
temple with worshippers. For these imply 
and necessitate association and communion. 
Those who are shut out are described as 
remembering their individual and collective 
hypocritical treatment of Christ, and as 
speaking for one another as well as per- 
sonally. u Lord, have we not prophesied in 
Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out 
devils, and in Thy name have done many 
wonderful works ? " 2 

We have also several cases narrated of 
recognition. Samuel appeared to Saul. 3 It 
is acknowledged that there are difficulties of 
» Rev. xix. 9. 2 Matt. vii. 22. a I Sam. xxviii. 7-20. 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 43 

interpretation to be met in this passage, as to 
the power of the witch of Endor, by what 
means Samuel was recalled, whether the 
woman expected his appearance or was terri- 
fied at what God accomplished^ and whether 
Saul himself beheld the spiritual form. But 
there is no difficulty as to the important facts. 
Samuel had died. The Lord had refused to 
communicate ; through the ordinary means of 
grace, with the rebellious king, who desired 
an interview with the dead prophet. Samuel 
appeared, u and Saul perceived that it was 
Samuel, and he stooped his face to the ground 
and bowed himself." The seer spake to the 
king, who answered, "I have called thee that 
thou mayest make known unto me what I 
shall do." And Samuel in the name of the 
Lord reproved him for his sin and pronounced 
upon him the swift judgment of God. This is 
stated as a real interview, between parties 



44 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA Til. 

formerly associated and now brought together 
again. They are described as conversing in 
the same way as when Samuel was in the 
flesh. Saul asks for divine guidance, and 
Samuel utters true prophecy, which is immedi- 
ately, yet strangely, fulfilled. 

On the Mount of Transfiguration, two men 
appeared with Christ in His glory. 1 This is a 
marvellous scene, and made a deep impression 
upon Peter, James and John. So far as they 
were concerned, it was designed to sustain 
their faith during the dark hours, so near, of 
the crucifixion and burial of their Lord. It 
throws much light on the question now before 
us. The three glorified ones are — Christ, a 
man in the flesh ; Moses, a disembodied soul j 
and Elias, who had been caught up into 
heaven, whose body had become spiritual and 
glorified. In them we see the three stages of 
1 Luke ix. 28-36. 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 45 

man's existence. But in these states they 
recognize each other and talk concerning 
"the decease which should be accomplished 
at Jerusalem." Their different conditions offer 
no bar to their intercourse, no explanation is 
needed of their knowledge of each other nor 
of their methods of communication. All is 
most natural and easy. It is to be noticed 
further that in their life-time they were 
separated by ages. They lived in the three 
great epochs of the history of the Church. 
They, as the miracle workers, represent the 
different dispensations which they severally 
introduced, of the law, of reformation, and 
grace. In this scene they typify and demon- 
strate the communion of saints of all ages, 
whether in the flesh, in the spirit, or in glori- 
fied bodies ; on earth, in heaven, and through 
eternity. It is not merely a prophecy of fut- 
ure union and association, but a realization 



46 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

of that unseen conference, which is carried on 
by the glorified, concerning what is doing on 
earth. The awakening disciples are amazed, 
but seeing and hearing the men, they say, 
" Master, it is good for us to be here, and let 
us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, one 
for Moses, and one for Elias." We need not 
now inquire how they know these ancient 
prophets. It is clear that they did know 
them, called them by name and desired to 
make the delightful interview more lasting, 
and to derive further instruction from their 
strange conversation. 

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus » 
we have another revelation. It seems certain 
that most, if not all, the parables of Christ 
were taken from real life, and describe per- 
sons and facts known to His hearers. This' 
one has special indications of being actual his- 
iLukexvi. 19-31. 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 47 

toiy. u There was a certain rich man, which 
was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared 
sumptuously every day. And there was a 
certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid 
at his gate, full of sores." There can be no 
doubt, however, that in closing the sermon re- 
corded in Luke xv. and xvi., Christ intended 
in this parable to lift the veil which now hides 
the unseen world, and permit us to trace the 
after history of the two great classes of men 
which He had been describing. u And it 
came to pass that the beggar died, and was 
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." 
These spirits continue visibly the ministration 
which they, unseen, have long carried on. 
However the expression " Abraham's bos- 
om ?? may be interpreted, it certainly implies 
that the newly transported soul knew into 
whose bosom he was placed, and by whom he 
was comforted. He knew Abraham, the pa- 



48 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

triarchy to whom the rest had been promised, 
or the gathered seed of Abraham, who were 
enjoying with him and each other the cove- 
nanted inheritance. It is worth while to no- 
tice that the highest joy of heaven, seeing 
God, is not here referred to, except in very 
dim figure. The view presented is that of 
rest from the trials of earth, and the comfort 
in the society of Abraham and his seed which 
must therefore form an essential element of 
bliss. The restful communion of Lazarus 
with these most illustrious saints is strongly 
contrasted with his wretched lowliness as a 
beggar outside the gate of the rich man. This 
association cannot be interrupted by a call, 
however importunately made, even for an act 
of mercy to a suffering soul, nor yet for a testi- 
mony to those who will not hear the ordinary 
means of grace, " Moses and the prophets." 
" The rich man also died, and was buried ; 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 49 

and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in tor- 
ments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Laz- 
arus in his bosom. And he cried and said, 
Father Abraham, have mercy on me and 
send Lazarus." This is a very vivid picture 
of the condition of the wicked after death, 
and contains some details not seen so clearly 
elsewhere — as the suddenness and severity of 
the torment, the denial of the least alleviation, 
the impossibility of passing to or fro over 
the great gulf fixed between heaven and hell. 
Our present purpose, however, confines our 
attention to the fact that the wicked soul is 
essentially the same as before death. He 
remembers his former life, its associations are 
still realities, though past. Human ties still 
bind him to his brethren, not merely as inti- 
macies which can not be forgotten, but as asso- 
ciations soon to be renewed. He, for the first 
time, perhaps, prays for their conversion, 



50 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

either because of interest in them, u lest they 
also come into this place of torment/' or from 
fear of increased anguish in witnessing their 
sufferings or in enduring their revenge. His 
twice repeated prayer and earnest argument 
are prompted by anticipated recognition. He 
is still the same man. He perceives Laza- 
rus. He does not doubt his identity. He 
calls him unhesitatingly by name, and not- 
withstanding the new society and surround- 
ings in Abraham's bosom, he regards him, 
until informed to the contrary, as one to be 
ordered about, and to minister to him. 
u Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of 
his finger in water and cool my tongue." 

How he recognized Abraham, or those rep- 
resented in him, we need not now inquire. 
But it is stated that, however far off, he did 
see Abraham and Lazarus. Whether with 
them there were few or many, he distin- 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES 51 

guished these two, and at once, without doubt, 
called them by name — "Father Abraham, 
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus." The 
conversation, as narrated in eight verses, is 
most free and emphatic, and demonstrates 
the impossibility of post-mortem repentance, 
the inefficacy of prayer from hell, the perma- 
nency of human affections, the sufficiency of 
the means of grace, the undisturbed rest of 
the righteous and the continued misery of the 
wicked. But the mere fact of this long con- 
versation proves that souls, immediately after 
death, do recognize each other and commune, 
and that this recognition greatly increases 
the enjoyment of the righteous and the suffer- 
ings of the wicked. 

It may be said that this is an imaginary 
conversation, introduced to enforce the pre- 
vious discourse. But we must remember that 
the preacher is Christ, that He could not pre- 



52 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

sent an imaginary scene contrary to facts 5 
that He could not enforce His doctrine by 
false suppositions, and misrepresentations, of 
eternal realities. He here describes the state 
of the soul after death. Recognition is not an 
unimportant accident in the scene. It is an 
essential fact. Everything depends upon it — 
the happiness of the redeemed, the increased 
misery of the lost, the conversation between 
Abraham and Dives, the desired communi- 
cation with the living, and the anticipated 
association in torments. All this is empha- 
sized by the fact that this is the only parable 
which Christ has given concerning the soul 
immediately after death. There is nothing 
to modify the impression which He has here 
given, that recognition is an essential element 
of the future condition of the saved and of the 
lost. 

On the cross, Christ said to the dying thief, 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 53 

u To-day slialt thou be with me in Paradise." i 
It is absurd to imagine that this gracious 
promise means that when their souls should 
leave their suffering bodies, they would be- 
come unconscious of each other's presence. 
The thief prayed to be " remembered in His 
Kingdom/' and Christ assured him of associa- 
tion that day with Him in glory. 

The promise " I will come again and re- 
ceive you unto myself, that where I am, there 
ye may be also/' 2 has long ago been fulfilled. 
And as the last of the twelve entered His 
presence, they perceived that u not one of 
them was lost but the son of perdition ; that 
the Scripture might be fulfilled." 3 Stephen, 
while being martyred, " saw the heavens 
opened, and the Son of man standing on the 
right hand of God " 4 to welcome him. He did 

1 Luke xxiii. 43. 2 John xiv. 3. 

3 John xvii. 12. 4 Acts vii. 56. 



54 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

not pass mto unconsciousness, nor is he isola- 
ted from the many who like him have been 
" slain for the testimony of Jesus. 7 ' ] Paul 
recognized the souls given as "the seals of 
his ministry v * and " the crown of his rejoic- 
ing." 3 " They have received him into ever- 
lasting habitations." 4 Indeed every allusion 
in Scripture to the state of the soul after 
death, and especially the whole book of 
Revelation, assumes and declares that recog- 
nition is a fact, and is essential to the enjoy- 
ment of the redeemed in heaven. 

This Scripture proof is, as we have seen, in 
accord with our instincts and natural longing. 
It seems also to explain the experience of not 
a few who, as they were departing, declared 
that they saw and heard what others could 

Eev. vi. 9. 2 I Cor. ix. 2. 

3 1 Thes. ii. 19. 4 Luke xvi. 9. 



TEACHING OF SCRIPTURES. 55 

not discern. They spoke, as did Stephen, \A 
glorious visions of Christ, of the sight of faces 
and forms for years numbered with the dead. 
They smiled in glad recognition, and departed 
with long cherished names upon their lips. 



IV. 

W THE IMAGE OF GOD. 

A VERY important part of the teaching 
of Scripture on this subject is the reve- 
lation of the nature of God. For God said, 
" Let us make man in our image, after our 
likeness." " So God created man in His 
own image, in the image of God created He 
him." l We cannot therefore understand what 
we are, or what is to be our destiny, until we 
are taught something of the nature of God. 
Because of this resemblance, we are author- 
ized to believe that whatever is essential to 
us must be ascribed, freed from all imperfec- 
i Gen. i. 26, 27. 



IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 57 

lions, also unto the Lord. Because we have 
certain attributes in a finite degree, we know 
that " God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and 
unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, 
holiness, justice, goodness and truth." In- 
deed the attributes we do not possess cannot 
be conceived by us, nor ascribed to God. 
But it is also true, that in so far as God 
reveals to us the mysteries of His nature, we 
learn what we are and what we shall be, 
when developed in His image, from glory 
unto glory. 

As we enter upon this study we are met at 
once with a wonderful doctrine, which we 
cannot comprehend, but which is clearly 
revealed. In the unity of the Godhead there 
are three persons. Many regard this as a 
mere mystery, to be received because re- 
vealed, to be regarded with awe as pertaining 
to the divine existence and operations, but 



58 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

which can have no practical application to us. 
Nevertheless, it has been revealed, and is 
designed to teach us to adore and serve the 
triune God. This doctrine has a very im- 
portant bearing upon the recognition of souls. 
For although God is infinite, eternal, and 
unchangeable, absolutely independent of all 
external objects, needing not the service nor 
adoration of any creature, self-centered, and 
with no object save His own glory, yet in the 
very constitution of the divine nature there 
is this essential element of sociability. From 
all eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost were, and these three are one God. The 
following words are recorded as the utterance 
of one of the persons of the Godhead— it 
may be questioned whether the Son or the 
Holy Ghost is the speaker — " The Lord pos- 
sessed me in the beginning of His way, 
before His works of old. I was set up from 



IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 59 

everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the 

earth was When He prepared the 

heavens, I was there 5 when He set a com- 
pass upon the face of the depth j when He 
established the clouds above ; when He 
strengthened the fountains of the deep j when 
He gave the sea His decree . . . when 
He appointed the foundations of the earth, 
then I was by Him, as one brought up with 
H^ra : and I was daily His delight, rejoicing 
always before Him." J And Christ prays, 
u Father, glorify Thou Me with thine own 
self, with the glory which I had with Thee 
before the world was." 2 There ever have 
been three persons in the Godhead. All we 
know of the one God is the unfolding of the 
relationships of the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost. Their attributes are held in common, 
and are exercised upon each other. There is 
« Prov. viii. 22-30. 2 John xvii. 5. 



60 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

but one love of God, yet the Father loves 
the Son, the Son loves the Father and sends 
the Spirit, and the Spirit proceeds from the 
Father and the Son. We are told that in 
eternity were counsel, communication, plan, 
decrees, and covenant, between these three 
persons. In all the divine purpose there is 
agreement. In every act, all co-operate. 
" The Son can do nothing of Himself, but 
whatsoever He seeth the Father do; for what 
things soever He doeth, these also doeth the 
Son likewise." i And the ," Spirit shall not 
speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall 
hear, that shall He speak. . . . He shall 
glorify Me, for He shall receive of mine and 
shall shew it unto you." 8 Creation, Prov- 
idence, and Kedemption are therefore as- 
cribed alike to the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, because all are constantly active 
* John v. 19. » John xvi. 13, 14. 



IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 61 

therein. What the Father does, He does by 
the Son and through the Holy Ghost. And 
in our reception of grace, we can approach 
only as drawn by the Spirit to Christ, and 
by Him we come to the Father. In the very 
nature of God, therefore, there is mutual 
recognition, with consultation and co-oper- 
ation. 

Whatever motive prompted God to create 
must be found in Himself. His full purpose, 
of course, we cannot comprehend, but it is 
evident that this social element of His nature 
found expression when He filled all space 
with His works, and when He formed the 
angels, the innumerable hosts of heaven, to 
surround His throne, to worship and serve 
Him. He delights in their companionship, 
seeks their sympathy, and performs His most 
divine works through their agency. As He 
creates, they shout for joy. His providence 



62 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA Til. 

is administered through their instrumentality. 
They are the medium by which the law is 
given, they announce the incarnation, they 
strengthen Him in temptation and in agony, 
they guard His body, declare His resurrec- 
tion, welcome Him back to glory, and when 
He shall sit in judgment they will attend 
Him and execute His decrees. 

u His delight in the sons of men 7? 1 is also 
to be noticed — communing with them in the 
garden, pitying them at the fall, unwilling 
'■hat they should perish, appearing often per 
sonally to them, taking up His abode even 
with the rebellious race, delighting to answer 
their prayers, manifesting Himself even to 
two or three met in His name, rejoicing over 
every lost one recovered, carrying their 
names on His heart and hands. This may 
seem incredible, u for what is man that Thou 
1 Prov. viii. 31. 



IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 63 

takest knowledge of him ? or the son of man, 
that Thou makest account of him ? " * It is, 
nevertheless, a fact, and this wonderful love 
is not excited by man's ability or worthiness, 
but is prompted by the very nature of God. 

Perhaps the most marvellous manifestation 
of this element of His nature is to be found in 
the manner in which He carries on His great 
work of redemption, the establishing His 
kingdom on earth. There was plausible 
reason and force in the DeviPs three-fold 
temptation of Christ, that, without the delay 
and sufferings of centuries, He should set up 
His kingdom immediately, by direct divine 
power, or by the agency of angels, or by 
compromise. 2 But the divine wisdom had 
planned that it should be by the atonement 
of the Son of God and the foolishness of 
preaching. Men u have fellowship in His 
1 Ps. cxliv. 3. 2 ]£att. iv. 3-10 



64: RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

sufferings," 1 and are called u to fill up that 
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." 2 
In the application of salvation, He confines 
His operations to the voluntary activity of 
His people, as they "preach the gospel to 
every creature." 3 Without them He does 
nothing. They are co-laborers with Christ, 
fellow-sufferers and joint heirs. They "bring, 
many sons unto glory." 4 We often dwell 
upon this, as the high privilege and glory of 
Christians, and their responsibility to be 
zealous and diligent even to the end. But if 
we seek the motive for this method of grace, 
we must find it in the nature of God. He 
delights in communication, fellowship, co- 
operation, and joint participation of His love, 
work, throne, and glory. 

If this sociability be an essential character- 

» Phil. iii. 10. 2 Col. i. 24. 

s Mark xvi. 15. * Heb. ii. 10, 11. 



IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 65 

istic of the divine nature, when He made 
man after His image and likeness, He did 
not merely give him powers to perceive that 
there is a God, to hear His word, and to 
adore Him, but He constituted him to be 
like God, craving sympathy and communion. 
Man needed the fellowship vouchsafed in the 
cool of the day in Eden, but, blessed as these 
interviews were, Adam was finite and God 
infinite. Man was yet alone in his worship 
and could not be satisfied, and " God said it 
is not good that the man should be alone. v ' 
No mate could be found in lower forms of 
life. The helpmeet needed by man, in his 
unfallen state of perfection, was his equal, 
not superior nor inferior, but a co-worshipper 
of God. That this God-like social craving 
of his nature might be satisfied, " God made 
a woman and brought her unto the man." ' 
J Gen. ii. 18. 2 Gen. ii. 23. 



66 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

He has set men in families. He has ordained 
races, tribes, and nations. He gathers them 
as peoples, and binds all flesh together as of 
one blood, so that in every approach to God 
they must recognize the whole brotherhood 
of man. u Our Father which art in heaven." ' 
No one can ask for any personal favor with- 
out thereby invoking temporal and spiritual 
blessings on others. No man liveth to him- 
self, each is his neighbor's keeper. This is 
not the result of sin and the fall, but the 
characteristic of human nature made in the 
image of God. Sin tends to alienate men, 
and renders them " devoid of natural affec- 
tions." 2 Grace restores the divine likeness, 
and brotherly love abounds. Moses even 
prayed, " Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their 
sin ; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of 
the book which Thou hast written." 3 And 
» Matt. vi. 9. 2 Rom. i. 31. 3 Ex. xxxii. 32. 



IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 67 

Paul says, "I could wish that myself were 
accursed from Christ for my brethren, my 
kinsmen according to the flesh." x When we 
shall be perfect as He is perfect, awake in 
His likeness, love will be the grace which 
shall abide, as the greatest and most essential. 
The fellowship into which Jesus drew the 
twelve was not merely personal attachment 
to Him, but also most intimate association 
with each other — to labor and suffer together, 
to share the twelve thrones, and to be the 
united foundations of the New Jerusalem. 
" He loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus," 2 
and sanctified their love, which death, the 
grave and the resurrection, would only 
render more holy and enduring. These 
sanctified affections and intimacies bring us 
into close conformity with Him who " loved 
His own which were in the world, and loved 
1 Rom. ix. 3. 2 John xi. 5. 



68 RE CO GNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

them unto the end," ' and prayed that " they 
might be with Him where He is, and behold 
His glory." 2 And when we shall gather in 
the mansions which He has prepared for us in 
the Father's house, we shall enjoy the com- 
munion of all saints, but we shall take special 
delight in our own by nature, and in those 
whom on earth we have loved in the Lord. 
1 John xiii. 1. 2 John xvii. 24. 



V. 

METHODS OF RECOGNITION. 

TX7E must now consider how we shall 
recognize each other. The fact of 
recognition is all important, and being clearly 
revealed is comforting and satisfactory. This 
would be so, even were the methods at 
present to us incomprehensible. Our faith 
and comfort, however, would be increased 
if we could perceive by what means we shall 
know each other. While there is no direct 
statement how this is to be accomplished, 
yet much is intimated and assumed as 
beyond question. We will doubtless possess 
new faculties and have enlarged capabilities 



70 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH, 

for the reception of information, but these 
are beyond our present conception and can- 
not be considered. If, however, the fact of 
recognition is demonstrated as necessary 
because of the permanent characteristics arid 
laws of our nature, it would seem more than 
probable that the means now used will be 
'then also employed. According to the 
Scriptures, our life hereafter shall be a con- 
tinuation, with a different environment, of 
our life on earth. At present, all external 
information comes to us through our five 
senses. We have already seen that these 
faculties do not depend upon the fleshly 
organs. Indeed, every description of souls 
after death attributes to them sight, hearing, 
and other sensations. We shall see God, His 
angels, and His redeemed ; we shall hear 
their calls and join in their praise ; we shall 
experience happiness, and the wicked shall 



METHODS OF RECOGNITION. 71 

suffer torments ; we shall hold communion 
with each other as we now do on earth. 

It is to be noticed that the more spiritual- 
ized become our perception s, the more con- 
fident are we in our conclusions. Changes 
in outward appearance, caused by time, by 
suffering, or by assumed disguises, may per- 
plex and deceive the eye, but parental in- 
stinct does not hesitate to discern the return- 
ing prodigal. Love and the knowledge of 
the inward peculiarities will set at defiance 
all outward appearances. We often doubt 
the testimony of our senses when, from the 
knowledge of the character and past life of a 
friend, we affirm that he is utterly incapa 
ble of certain conduct. Appearances may be 
against him, others may present unanswer- 
able arguments and testimony, his own words 
may appear to have but one, and that a bad, 
jonstruction, but, because of our personal 



72 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

knowledge of his principles, we do not doubt 
him ; we are certain that all can be explained, 
and that he is innocent and honorable. Or, 
the facts may be undeniable, yet we do not 
distrust him. He may pass us as a stranger, 
we, though mortified and perplexed, are con- 
fident that he has some good reason for his 
unusual behavior. " Jonathan loved ^David 
as his own soul," 1 and no representation of 
others, nor accusation of his own father, 
could induce him to suspect David of rebel- 
lion or discourtesy. The multitude in the 
temple knew that Jesus did hear and would 
reply, although He " stooped down and with 
His finger wrote on the ground." 2 The Syro- 
phenician woman continued her prayer, 
u Have mercy on me, Lord, thou Son of 
David j my daughter is grievously vexed 
with a devil ! " " Lord help me ! " although 
1 1 Sam. xviii. 1. 2 John yiii. 6. 



METHODS OF RECOGNITION. 73 

11 He answered her not a word/' but discour- 
aged her by His converse with the disciples : 
" I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel." "It is not meet to take 
the children's bread and cast it to dogs." 1 
She was certain that He was very pitiful, 
that He healed every one brought to him 
and sent none empty away. Since our 
bodily faculties are imperfect, and what we 
perceive by them only indications of the 
real character and purposes, and these indi- 
cations often very misleading, we cannot 
place entire reliance upon our bodily senses. 
We must be certain that we see and hear 
aright. We must use discrimination, be cau- 
tious, as in drawing conclusions, and be open 
to correction. Angels may appear as trav- 
ellers j the devil, as an angel of light or as a 
serpent in the garden. During absence a 
1 Matt. xv. 21-28. 



74 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

child attains manhood, and sorrow or joy 
transforms the countenance. We do no1 
rely implicitly upon the testimony of our 
senses. We feel the need of mental and spir- 
itual faculties, and though better satisfied with 
their conclusions, we are longing for some 
more reliable means of perception, and more 
direct and freer communication with others. 
This longing, we feel sure, will be realized. 
For both reason and revelation lead us to 
expect that when freed from the body our 
present faculties will be enlarged and per- 
fected, and that new, more spiritual, 
powers will be granted to us. " Now we see 
through a glass darkly, but then face to face j 
now I know in part, but then shall I know 
even as also I am known." 1 We cannot 
imagine what additional means of perception 
and communication may be given to us, but 
i I Cor. xiii. 12. 



METHODS OF RECOGNITION. 75 

we know they will greatly aid our recognition 
of each other. At present we can consider 
only those now in use, but which will here- 
after be freed from all their present imperfec- 
tions. 



VI. 

RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 

/^\NE of the most significant names of 
God is " The Word." It implies His 
own infinite fulness and perfection, the exist- 
ence of others who need information, His 
ability and readiness to impart truth, the 
clearness of His communications, and His 
great purpose in all things to reveal His own 
glory. The name also indicates the highest 
and fullest form of this revelation — by 
speech. All His works do indeed show 
forth His glory. The vast universe, with all 
created things, although pronounced " very 

good," is only a partial display of His glory. 

76 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 77 

In them can be clearly seen u His eternal 
power and Godhead. n x But when by these 
things men "knew God, they glorified Him 
not as God, neither were thankful, but be- 
came vain in their imaginations and their 
foolish heart was darkened; professing 
themselves wise, they became fools, and 
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God 
into an image made like to corruptible man, 
and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
creeping things." 2 His providential dealings, 
although carried on according to an eternal 
plan, in infinite wisdom and without the least 
possible mistake, is incomprehensible even to 
the wisest and best of the saints. Abraham 
said in his perplexity, "Why go I thus child- 
less ? " 3 Jacob declared that " all these things 
are against me ! n 4 and David " was envious 

1 Rom. i. 20. 2 Rom. i. 21-23. 

•* Gen. xv. 2. * Gen. xlii. 36. 



78 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

of the foolish when he saw the prosperity of 
the wicked." " It was too painful for him 
until he went into the Sanctuarv of God and 

%J 

understood their end." * The disciples often 
find that what God does " they know not now, 
although they shall know hereafter." 2 In the 
incarnation was manifested " all the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily." s " The Word was 
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we be- 
held His glory, the glory as of the only begot- 
ten of the Father^ full of grace and truth." 4 
But the facts of redemption, His birth. His 
life of perfect obedience, His shameful death, 
His resurrection and ascension, were net 
understood. They were a dark mystery, 
which the most wise and loving of His inti- 
mate friends could not solve. u Why hast 
Thou thus dealt with us?" 5 "Lord, this 

i Ps. lxxiii. 1-17. 2 John xiii. 7. 3 Col. ii. 9. 
* John i. 14. 6 Luke ii. 48. 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 79 

shall not be unto Thee." * u We trusted that 
it had been He who should have redeemed 
Israel." 2 God was manifested in the flesh, 
salvation was accomplished ; but it was the 
great mystery of godliness, the display of the 
harmonious operation of all the incompre- 
hensible attributes of the divine nature. The 
meaning of this manifestation, the object and 
effect of this wonderful work, its connection 
with our characters and destiny — the gospel — 
could not be thus discerned. The highest 
and clearest form of revelation is by speech. 
External objects and acts may excite atten- 
tion and illustrate, but we need u the 
Woed," as God held communion with Adam, 
declared His covenant to Abraham, His law 
from Sinai, spake by the prophets, and taught 
on the mount, in the wilderness, in the tem- 
ple, and in the upper room. 

i Matt. xvi. 22. 2 Luke xxiv. 21. 



80 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

The angels worship God as they bow with 
veiled faces before His throne, and as they 
fly quickly to execute His will, but their 
most perfect worship is when in word and song 
they express their appreciation of His perfec 
tions and their admiration of His works and 
dealings. They unperceived minister to us, 
their encampment presents a barrier to our 
spiritual adversaries, but their freest inter- 
course is when they speak with human 
language to the patriarchs, Zacharias, Mary, 
the disciples and to John on Patmos j and 
when they cry one to another, or when they 
dispute with Satan, saying, u The Lord re- 
buke thee." 1 

The lower animals are not only guided by 

instinct, but have some means of communica 

ting their apprehensions and desires. They 

infoi'm, consult, plan and co-operate. Their 

1 Jude, 9. 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 81 

means of communicating we have not detect- 
ed, but it evidently corresponds with and 
takes the place of our speech. 

Man is sometimes described as an animal 
with language. However imperfect may be 
this definition, it emphasizes a characteristic 
which raises man immeasurably above the 
brutes, and closely allies him with the highest 
created intelligences and with God Himself. 
A mother j)erhaps is never more happy than 
when her child begins to lisp the words which 
she teaches him. The deaf mutes were until 
lately in a condition of terrible isolation, and 
therefore of almost entire ignorance. The 
sign language has done much for them, but it 
is an imperfect and partial substitute for 
speech. Had it been good for Adam to be 
alone, he would not have needed language. 
But he was the head of a race, All his pos- 
terity was to be intimately connected with 



82 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

him, by nature and by covenant. All that was 
revealed to him, he must impart to them. His 
character, relations, conduct and destiny in- 
volved theirs. Men are gathered by God 
into nations and He sets them in families. 
They are all mutually dependent, they pro- 
fit or suffer by each other's conduct. They 
by nature crave sympathy and fellowship. 
They must co-operate. Communication is an 
absolute necessity of man's very nature. 
Solitary confinement, exile, banishment, and 
non-intercourse are among the heaviest pen- 
alties which can be inflicted. Speech is the 
divinely appointed and only satisfactory 
means of communication. Eden would not 
have been a paradise to our first parents with- 
out communion with God and converse with 
each other. The confusion of tongues was a 
curse for sin, which separated and scattered 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 83 

mankind. 1 The gift of tongues was a blessing 
for the regathering of the nations and teach- 
ing of Christ's gospel to every creature. 2 

The application of all this to the state of 
the soul after death is very evident. We 
have seen that communication, and that by 
speech, is not an accident necessitated by our 
present environment, but a permanent ordi- 
nance to meet an essential characteristic of 
our nature and our unending relations to 
God, to angels and to each other. Our 
removal from earth to heaven will no more 
render speech unnecessary or improper than 
our change of residence from New York to 
Philadelphia. It is to be noticed that we by 
speech hold no communion with the earthly, 
the brutes that perish, but only with those 
whose stay here is limited, and whose real 
life is in eternity. The subjects, too, of our 

1 Gen. xi. 7. 2 Acts ii. 1-11. 



81 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

converse are not material things. Of course 
these are referred to. There are those who 
are always saying, " What shall we eat % 
What shall we drink, and wherewithal shall 
we be clothed % " x But these are debasing 
their natures and misusing their powers. We 
have to do with material things, which were 
designed to be means for the acquisition of 
knowledge, the excitement to thought and 
development of emotions. Speech is not 
only adapted to set forth intellectual and 
spiritual things, but these are its most appro- 
priate themes. In proportion as we attain to 
real manhood, our converse is rather of un- 
seen realities, the conclusions of intellectual 
activity and meditation, the wealth of devel- 
oped affections, the fullest sympathy with 
man and glowing adoration of God. All this 

1 Matt. vi. 31. 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 85 

in the Christian is a spiritual development, 
and a preparation for heaven. 

The ordinary objection that in heaven we 
will not have vocal and auditory organs, or a 
medium for vibrations, has already been an- 
swered. Every essential characteristic of our 
natures will there find its employment and satis- 
faction. The imperfection of human language 
will be rectified and free communication with 
God, the redeemed and the angels secured. 
It is therefore with no surprise that we read 
that heaven is vocal with praise, every 
tongue joining in the worship, and that co'/n- 
munion of saints and with God constitutes the 
nature and the bliss of heaven. We cannot 
now inquire into the meaning of the passage, 
" And when he had opened the seventh seal, 
there was silence in heaven about the space 
of half an hour," ' whether this refers to a ce- 
1 Rev. "viii. 1. 



86 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

lestial or terrestrial pause, or whether as past 
or still future, it is undeniable that if it prophe- 
sies a literal silence in heaven, it is spoken 
of as a most unusual event and of very short 
duration. 

Revelation describes the communion of 
saints, there as here, to consist not merely of 
a vast congregation singing in perfect har- 
mony the new song of Moses and the Lamb, 
nor of the multitude which no man can num- 
ber bowing before the throne, offering each his 
individual worship, but also of souls calling one 
to another, imparting information and exciting 
others to new praise. They speak of personal 
perceptions, experiences and anticipations. 

Recognition is an assumed necessity. It is 
a common observation- of travellers that every- 
where they find acquaintances. Strangers in 
conversation soon discover some connecting 
link — subjects of common interest, places 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 87 

which both have visited, experiences which 
have been similar, mutual friends, and often 
close blood relationships, if not former intima- 
cies. This will be still more true in heaven. 
We shall not be distracted by the care of the 
body. We shall be relieved from the per- 
plexities of business and the care of other 
things. Our communion will be uninter- 
rupted and prolonged. We will delight in 
sympathy, and have no fear of being misun- 
derstood or misrepresented. We will have the 
fullest confidence in each other and take spe- 
cial delight in each discovered tie which binds 
us closer to the members of the household of 
faith. The chief theme of heaven, in all our 
intercourse with God and each other, will be 
Eedemption, not in the abstract nor in general, 
but in its personal application to us. We will 
praise Him " who was slain and has redeemed 
us to God by His own blood," "and has 



03 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

made us unto our God kings and priests."' 
As we render thanks before all, for Christian 
parents, for the seal of the covenant affixed 
in infancy, for those who taught us of Christ, 
led us to the cross, rejoiced at our conversion, 
helped us in duty, prayed for us in tempta- 
tion, reclaimed us when wandering, were the 
means of our sanctification and efficiency, and 
stood by us when we were called into glory, 
there will gather round us those, for whom 
we give thanks, who will bless Christ that 
they had given, if " a cup of water only, in 
His name, to one of the least of His disciples." 2 
While we recall our heart's desire and prayer 
to God that our kinsmen according to the 
flesh might be saved, and as we praise Christ 
for His love, which constrained us to declare 
His grace, the stars in the crown of our re- 
joicing and the seals of our ministry will 
1 Rev. v. 9, 10. 2 Matt. x. 42 ; Mark ix. 41 



RECOGNITION BY SPEECH. 89 

gather, perhaps in unexpected numbers, to join 
in our thanksgiving and to recognize us as the 
means of their salvation. Forgotten faces, 
names, circumstances and conversations shall 
all be recalled. For memory is to be restored 
and made perfect. Our converse with these 
saints will be of past experiences in divine 
grace, present blessedness in Christ's pres- 
ence and anticipated increase of knowledge 
of Him, of efficiency in His service and of 
delight in His worship. These are subjects 
wbicb will be of mutual and absorbing inter- 
est, and will complete our recognition, render 
our friendships more intimate, and perfect our 
enjoyment of each other in the Lord. 

If, then, speech, or communication in any 
form, be permitted between souls after death ; 
if any reference to our earthly life be made in 
the hearing of others j if in our thanksgiving 
we speak of our spiritual experiences begun 



90 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA Ttf. 

in the flesh, when we were helpers of each 
other's faith, causes of stumbling to some, 
deceived and being deceived, bearers of each 

other's burdens and co-laborers in the visible 
church, then recognition must be unavoidable. 
It is the natural and necessary result of 
speech, and will continually awaken new 
gratitude to Him who has wonderfully kept 
us unto salvation, and increased our love 
towards those who have helped us in the hour 
of temptation, or who have been saved 
through our instrumentality. 



VII. 

RECOGNITION BY SIGHT. 

A T present, we depend upon the eye, 

more than any other bodily organ, for 

recognition. Yet the blind can develop the 

other senses to be almost as reliable. The 

footstep, voice, or the touch enable them to 

call each friend by name. In thinking of 

future meetings, we naturally expect to know 

each other by sight. But we are prompted 

at once to say, How can this be 1 All that 

we have seen of our friends is their bodily 

form, which will then be in the grave. Their 

souls we have never discerned, and, being 

spirits, they cannot be objects of sight. 

91 



92 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

This seems plausible. But the Scriptures 
speak of angels and other spirits, and of the 
souls under the altar as seen by each other, 
and even by men in the flesh. There can be 
therefore no impossibility nor improbability in 
the vision of spirits. They are immaterial, but 
it is a mistake to imagine that they are without 
forms. God is an infinite Spirit and fills im- 
mensity with His presence, and therefore can 
have no shape. We are forbidden to con- 
ceive of Him in a form, or to make any like- 
ness or image of Him. To do so, is to deny 
His infinitude. But all angels and souls are 
finite. They are located, confined within 
certain limits, within which they are, and 
beyond which they are not. The most unsub- 
stantial of earthly things have forms, definite 
each momont, however constantly changing — 
the cloud that presently vanishes away ; the 
unseen vapor, whose deadly influence destroys 



RECOGNITION BY SIGHT. 93 

the dog, but cannot affect the taller animal by 
its side. Spirits, being finite, must have 
forms. That these are definite and perma- 
nent, is everywhere assumed in Scripture, 
even in those passages which represent the 
spirit as taking for a time some shape that is 
not his own. The devil appears as an angel 
of light or as a serpent. Still he has his own 
proper form, which, indeed, may be very 
different from what in thought we usually 
ascribe to him. Angels have appeared as 
weary eastern travellers, clothed with human 
garments and with staves, and as young men 
in long white robes, and also, as we think, in 
their own form, with wings, with " counte- 
nance like lightning and raiment white as 
snow." 1 

This must also be true of the souls of men. 
That they have definite forms is the general 
Matt, xxviii. 3 



94 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

conviction of men in all ages and lands. 
They are called ghosts, shapes, shadows, etc., 
as indicating that they can be perceived by 
the senses. In all descriptions of their real 
or fancied appearances on earth, and of their 
condition in the spiritual world, there is, in 
this, a full agreement with the representations 
of the Word of God ; that they are localized 
and have definite and permanent forms, by 
which they can be recognized and distin- 
guished from others. Shakespeare describes 
Hamlet as seeing the distinct shape of his 
father's ghost, whose identity he could not 
question. To him and others it was " in the 
same figure like the king that's dead." Mac- 
beth is so certain that Banquo's ghost was a 
reality, that he is made to say, " If I stand 
here, I saw him." " Saul discerned Samuel, 
either from personal observation, or from the 
witch's description : u an old man cometh up 



RECOGNITION BY SIGHT. 95 

and he is covered with a mantle. ' M The 
saints, gathered in the house of Mary, the 
mother of John, praying, would not believe 
Rhoda, that Peter stood before the gate, but 
said, " It is his angel." 2 All these and like 
descriptions indicate that, according to popular 
opinion, the souls of the departed have definite 
forms, and, further, that these forms have a 
close resemblance to their physical frames. 
General convictions, not dependent upon 
education or local tradition, are seldom at 
fault. They have some common origin, as in 
an original communication from God or in the 
instincts of our nature. They are often con- 
firmed by advancing science and by revela- 
tion. In this case the latest investigations of 
science seem to furnish an illustration of its 
truth. 

In medical schools I have frequently seen 
1 1 Sam. xxviii. 14. 2 Acts xh. 15. 



96 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

pictures of the same man, but variously pre- 
sented. In one he appears in his natural 
condition, and in others the same outline is 
in turn filled with drawings of muscular 
tissues, of the ramifications of blood vessels, 
of the innumerable expansions of the nerve 
fibres, and of the lymphatic ducts. These 
pictures are, of course, very imperfect, yet 
they indicate that these various systems most 
minutely correspond to the same form. It is 
the skin only that we see, yet the slightest 
penetration of any part of it demonstrates, in 
the oozing blood, the shrinking from pain and 
the absorbing process instantly begun, that 
each of these other systems has been touched. 
Therefore, in our physical frames, we have 
many forms encased, all of which coincide to 
the same outward model. Indeed, as science 
advances, these are found to be still more 
numerous, and many of them are apparently 



RECOGNITION BY SIGHT. 97 

approaching the immaterial or spiritual. 
There is the system of bioplasts, which 
change inorganic into living matter, and 
that influence which is unseen and cannot be 
analyzed, but which is transmitted to and fro 
by the nerves, and that mysterious life which 
pervades the whole body and extends to every 
part of its surface. Beside all this, there 
seems to be another and more spiritual form, 
that self-consciousness, or consciousness of 
self, which we all perceive. It is not con- 
fined to the brain — no one so imagines — much 
less to that point in it still undetermined, 
where mind and matter, soul and body, are 
said alone to touch. Conscious personality is 
not in a part, nor beyond the form of the 
body, but exactly conforms to it. This illus- 
tration is in part used by Eev. Archibald 
McCullagh, D. D., in his most admirable 
and comforting book, " Beyond the Stars," 



98 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

who in a measure quotes from Rev. Joseph 
Cook's work on biology. 

All this illustrates, if it does not actually 
prove, that souls have the same forms, 
members, and features which distinguish their 
bodies, and therefore, when separated from 
the flesh, they can be recognized by all who 
have spiritual discernment. The Bible, as 
we have seen, in many places assumes this to 
be the fact. The Holy Ghost declares that 
" there are celestial bodies and bodies terres- 
trial, but the glory of the celestial is one, and 
the glory of the terrestrial is another." 1 This 
passage is of force, whether by celestial 
bodies is meant those of angels or of the souls 
of men. There are definite forms of celes- 
tial beings adapted to their heavenly exist- 
ence, whose glory excels that of those who 
inhabit this earth. " There is a natural 
1 1 Cor. xv. 40. 



RECOGNITION BY SIGHT. 99 

body, and there is a spiritual body." ' There 
is a distinction between these, not as to form 
but as to nature. The one is material, 
adapted to our present life, and the other 
immaterial, fitted for a spiritual world. The 
revised version, in accord with the earliest 
manuscripts, reads, " if there is a natural 
body, there is also a spiritual body." The 
one is as certain as the other. There is a 
close connection between the two. In this, 
as in all other things, the seen is but the 
manifestation and expression of the unseen, 
the natural of the spiritual. It is admitted 
that Paul is speaking in this chapter of the 
resurrection body, its identity with that which 
is sown in corruption, and of its transforma- 
tion like unto Christ's glorious body. But 
he is using illustrations showing that even 
now there are different kinds of bodies, as of 
1 I Cor. xv. 44. 



100 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

sun, moon, and stars ; oi nieu, boasts, lishes 
and birds ; of divers kinds of seed 5 and as a 
more close analogy lie here refers to the 
natural and spiritual bodies which we now 
possess, the one seen and the other unseen. 
The laying aside of the outer form does not 
leave us destitute of figure, organs, and 
features. 

We have spiritual bodies. " For which 
cause we faint not, but though our outward 
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed 
day by day. . . . For we know that if our 
earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- 
solved, we have a building of God, an house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be 
clothed upon with our house, which is from 
heaven. If so be that being clothed we shall 
not be found naked. For we which are in 
this tabernacle do groan, being burdened : 



RECOGNITION' BY SIGHT. 101 

not for that we would be unclothed, but 
clothed upon, that mortality might be swal- 
lowed up of life." ' Many suppose this passage 
refers to heaven and the mansions there pre- 
pared for us. But Paul is not speaking of 
locations or of our transportation from earth to 
heaven, but of a personal change, the dissolu- 
tion of our fleshly tabernacles, the outward 
man, and of the continued possession of the 
building of Grod which is from heaven, the 
celestial body, the inward man. "If so be 
that being clothed we shall not be found 
naked." 

As we shall see in the next chapter, there 
are causes which determine the personal 
peculiarities of our bodily forms. These 
causes are to be found in the immaterial part 
of our nature, which conforms the outward to 
the inward, the bodily to the spiritual. Our 
i II Cor. iv. IB— v. 4. 



102 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

present appearance is what it is because of 
our personal characteristics. If, therefore, 
our fleshly features express our inward na- 
ture, how much more are we to be spirituallv 

7 X «/ 

modelled after the same image. The two 
forms expressing the same person and char- 
acter, and determined by the same cause, 
must closely resemble each other. It is, 
therefore, reasonable that souls shall be 
visible, and can be easily recognized by those 
who have known them on earth. Changed 
they shall be, made more beautiful, and freed 
from all imperfections and defects, but they 
will be the same in all essential peculiarities. 
Moses' face, when he came down from the 
mount, shone with celestial glory, but his feat- 
ures were unaltered. We shall see and know 
the faces which have here gladdened our 
homes, and after which we have long yearned. 
There shall be on them no trace of sorrow or 



RECOGNITION BY SIGHT. 103 

pain, no expression of worldliness or of conflict 
with sin. They will be radiant with joy, 
resplendent with holiness, reflecting the 
beauty of the Lord. 



VIII. 

RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 

T NTIMATELY connected with the subject 
of the last chapter is recognition by 
perception of character. If our spiritual 
forms shall resemble our corporeal, it is 
because there is some reason for our present 
peculiarities of shape and feature, which are 
essentially personal, and therefore permanent. 
A man's soul would be out of place in a 
woman's body, and we would feel exceed- 
ingly uncomfortable in any body bat our 
own. This brings us to a fact which is 
becoming more clearly demonstrated. The 

physical is moulded by the spiritual. It has 

104 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 105 

long been noticed that there is a close 
connection between the bodily appearance 
and the inward character. Even animals are 
attracted by some persons and terrified by 
others. An infant will study the face of a 
stranger, and quickly express confidence or 
firmly reject all possible overtures. What- 
ever may be our preconceived opinions of 
another's character, and however confirmed 
they may be by his reported conduct and 
speeches, they are verified or reversed when 
we look into his face. We are confident that 
a man with those features cannot be dishonest 
or cruel, and we as positively assert that 
another is capable of any crime and has 
revelled in wickedness. 

It is not asserted that these judgments are 
always correct. Mistakes are often made, 
because hypocrites and dissemblers may 
assume appearances and expressions which 



106 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

are contrary to their real characters, and 
carefully refrain from manifesting emotions 
which strongly move them. We are finite, 
and liable to make mistakes. We are often 
careless in onr inspection. The facts may be 
rightly discerned, but our conclusion may be 
false. The troubled brow may indicate per- 
plexity how to do good as well as fear of 
being detected in evil. Indignation may be 
mistaken for anger, pity for a sneer, and self- 
respect for selfishness or pride. A passing 
feeling caused by sudden excitement may be 
regarded as a permanent trait of character. 
Sadness under a deep affliction may be judged 
to be habitual depression. Nevertheless 
these very mistakes verify the principle. It 
is because the face portrays character and 
reveals the inward purpose that hypocrites 
study to overcome the natural impulse to 
manifest in lip and eye their nature and 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 107 

designs, and to assume expressions which are 
entirely foreign to them, or to their moods. 
And it is because we know that the outward 
manner is by a constant law of nature deter- 
mined by the inward emotion, that even our 
mistaken conclusions have an influence over 
us ' which we can hardly resist. We feel 
justified in believing that there is a heavy 
heart behind the overshadowed face, even 
when we misjudge the cause of sorrow. A 
smile may deceive, but we are certain that it 
ought to indicate a passing pleasure or a 
kindly disposition. 

It may be said that the outward manner, 
after all, only reveals the present thoughts 
and feelings. But thoughts and emotions, 
however fleeting, are determined by perma- 
nent traits of character. The snap of a dog 
shows his disposition and we know he should 
never be trusted. The glance of an eye de- 



108 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

monstrates that love or hatred dwells in the 
heart, and may be at any moment evoked. 
And these passing expressions of permanent 
characteristics necessarily become habits. 
Frequent smiles make a cheerful countenance. 
Indulged suspicions surround the person with 
an air of distrust. And these have a reflexed 
action, developing those traits which are often 
expressed. The face photographs that which 
passes within, and these views become fixed, 
leaving a permanent record on the features. 
Many a son has read the whole story of his 
mother's broken heart in the deep lines which 
disappointment, anxiety and grief have traced 
on her countenance. Every man's inner his- 
tory is thus recorded, as a warrior's conflicts 
are written in his many scars. A dude cannot 
look like a man of business. A student differs 
in appearance from a day laborer. An upright 
man cannot be mistaken for a drunken debau- 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 109 

chee. The very forms of features indicate 
traits of character. The chin of a certain for- 
mation reveals firmness and persistency of pur- 
pose. A high forehead shows intellectual abil- 
ity. The shape of the head manifests mental 
and even moral traits. There is a real founda- 
tion for phrenology. Wrong conclusions are 
often drawn from observed facts — that the 
physical peculiarities determine the intellectual 
and that a man's future may be thus forecast. 
Whereas the reverse is true, the mental traits, 
both hereditary and acquired, are the causes 
of the conformation of the brain and skull, 
and show what the man has been and is. 
Even moral changes, produced by the inward 
work of the Holy Ghost, are discerned in the 
outward man. These are so clearly marked 
that frequently they cannot be mistaken. 
Peace with God, joy in His fellowship, and 
holy interest in man, are manifested, to the 



110 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

surprise of former companions. The disfig- 
urements of past years of sin are not imme- 
diately, perhaps never, wholly eradicated, 
but a decided change has evidently taken 
place, and a new attractiveness or charm has 
been imparted. The golden bowl has been 
burnished, although marks of past abuse are 
still apparent* 

In proportion, therefore, as we know the 
real character of a friend, we perceive the 
reason for his bodily appearance. We closely 
connect the two in thought. We are troubled, 
if we find any dissimilarity ; and are confirmed 
in our opinion when we perceive the har- 
mony. As we read of historical persons we 
form distinct conceptions of their appearance, 
not merely as possible but as necessary. If 
these conceptions differ from those formed by 
others, it is only because our idea of the char- 
acters is not what others have apprehended. 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. Ill 

Each has obtained a partial view, and there- 
fore there is a variety in our ideas of their 
personal appearances, but the variety is chief- 
ly in details. There is a general agreement. 
In the several groups of historical personages 
who are engaged in the same work and ani- 
mated by a like spirit, we individualize each. 
Luther, Calvin and Knox had much in com 
mon, lived in the same age, were bold in the 
defence of the same truth, employed similar 
means, and manifested a determined opposi- 
tion to Rome, a love for the Church of Christ 
and a desire for salvation of men, yet their 
peculiarities were so marked that no one 
imagines that they resembled each other. 
Moses and Elias were both miracle workers, 
leaders of the people, teachers of duty en- 
forced by terrible threatenings, and prophets 
and types of Christ, yet the disciples on the 
Mount of Transfiguration had no difficulty in 



112 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

identifying the law-giver, or in recognizing 
the fearless reformer. Peter, James and 
John were apostles, and stood together, as the 
chosen three, always near their Master. Yet 
no one would mistake Peter for one of the 
sons of thunder, nor take James for the beloved 
disciple, the seer of the Revelation. When 
we shall see " Abraham and Isaac and Jacob 
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God," 
as we apprehend their several characters we 
shall have no difficulty in distinguishing them. 
When our loved ones receive us into ever- 
lasting habitations, we shall be surprised at 
their freedom from sin and defects, and at 
their wonderful development in grace, but 
the well remembered characteristics — of 
tastes, talents, activities and aspirations, must 
reveal each one's personality. When we be- 
hold Christ we shall know Him — not so much 
because of His session on the throne, the 



RE CO GNITION B Y CHA RACTER. 113 

homage rendered to Him or the exceeding 
brightness of His countenance, but because in 
His features we shall behold what no painting 
has ever represented — the fulness of the God- 
head bodily, the inherent perfection of divine 
attributes in human form, in His glory " the 
chiefest among ten thousand," and, to each 
redeemed soul, " the one altogether lovely." x 

Not unfrequently we recognize others 
without personal contact, merely by some 
known peculiarity. In a picture gallery we 
not only judge of the character of each artist 
by his choice of subjects and manner of treat- 
ing them, but we perceive that there are 
characteristics which run through his works, 
by which all his paintings can be identified. 
These peculiarities manifest traits of char- 
acter, tastes and skill. As we study the 
various productions of each, we can also 
1 Song of Solomon, v. 10 16. 



114 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

often determine the succession in which 
they were painted, and mark his improve- 
ment, and the formation and development of 
his style. They record the full history of his 
artistic life. A lover of music can recognize 
the composer of the harmony which thrills 
him if he has carefully studied any of his 
pieces. Authors are known by their style of 
composition, and their grasp and expression 
of thought. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, in 
revealing the future of the Church, have left 
their own characteristics in their writings, in 
which, also, are evidences that they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost. Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, and John have presented their personal 
conceptions of the gospel of the Son of Grod, 
and their peculiar relations to Christ. We can 
even perceive the presence and influence of 
Peter in what Mark has written, and of Paul 
as Luke u set forth in order a declaration of 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 115 

those things which are most surely believed." » 
We recognize most of our correspondents with- 
out glancing at the signatures affixed to their 
letters. Trains of thought we know can come 
only from one gifted mind. The manner of 
showing emotions often reveals the personal- 
ity. A mother knows at once which child has 
placed a rose on her table, or labored in some 
house task, or anticipated an unexpressed de- 
sire. These acts of love have been done ac- 
cording to the peculiar disposition of each 
child, and she makes no mistake. All these 
special talents, tastes, and emotions are per- 
sonal, belonging to the inner man, and are in- 
dependent of outward circumstances 5 they are, 
therefore, permanent and shall be unaffected 
by death. We shall be greeted in heaven by 
parents as by none other. The welcome of 
father will differ from that of mother, as these 
1 Luke i. 1 



116 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

differed on earth. Children and friends will 
all, there as here, express their characters, 
tastes and powers in their own ways, and be 
recognized thereby. This, indeed, is the 
highest and most satisfactory method of recog- 
nition. 

It may, however, be said that marvellous 
changes shall take place in character after 
death, and that the changes will probably ad- 
vance with wonderful rapidity. So that while 
we have been finishing our course on earth, 
our loved ones have been entirely trans- 
formed. This is true, yet it is to be noticed 
that the change is twofold. (1.) An entire 
freedom from sin. But very much of the sin 
whereby our loved ones are defiled is un- 
known to us. It is perceived fully only by 
the Searcher of hearts. Much has not been 
reported to us, much has never been con- 
fessed, and we have failed to suspect the evil 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 117 

which has been apparent to others. What 
we have perceived we have excused, la- 
bored to counteract, and watched as it was 
being supplanted by growing virtues. We 
have in love, and in faith in God's covenant, 
cherished ideal conceptions of our children 
and friends — what they would be, and cer- 
tainly shall be, without these defects and sins. 
It will not be so much a surprise when we 
behold them perfected by grace. Every line 
in a child's first sketch may be wrong, but it 
is still the same drawing after it has been 
corrected under the direction of the master. 
We, who now behold our children with faith 
and love, and all others with Christian char- 
ity, will not be so much surprised to find 
them without the faults which now we ig- 
nore. We are accustomed to regard sin as 
the result of temptations from the world, 
flesh, and devil, and often imagine what 



118 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

others would be with a holy environment and 
where no temptation assails, but where God's 
love is the all controlling motive, and where 
saints and angels exercise their holy influ- 
ence. Throughout our whole Christian ex- 
perience we have been depending upon the 
Spirit's wonderful power to subdue sin and 
perfect sanctification in us and others. We 
rest upon Christ's promise that we shall all be 
without spot or blemish. We long with confi- 
dence for the fulfilment in ourselves, and ex- 
pect its realization in others. 

(2.) There will be also a perfecting in 
holiness. Here faults often conceal virtues, 
and graces, even the most essential, scarcely 
appear, or are dwarfed and marred in their 
growth. The change will be wonderful when 
there shall be no concealment, when each 
grace shall be present and in full develop- 
ment. Yet it is a development, not a trans- 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 119 

formation. Holiness is not to us an unknown 
attribute. The Christian graces, which will 
constitute the glory of the saints, are, indeed, 
divine, but they have been planted in an 
earthly garden, and we have seen each grow 
in human hearts. New seeds from distant 
climes may astonish us at every stage of their 
strange development. But we have been 
long familiar with the word which has been 
planted in our hearts, and we have watched 
" first the blade, then the ear, and after that 
the full corn in the ear." 1 We have often 
seen the whole process until the fruits of the 
Spirit are brought forth: " love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance." 2 We have seen 
great variety of developments, but of the 
same graces. In some we have beheld one 
or more of these brought almost to perfection. 
1 Mark iv. 28. 2 Gal. v. 22, 23. 



120 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

And there is not one divine grace which is 
not to be found fully manifested in Jesus 
Christ, " for in Him dwelleth the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily." i We know Him 
and " are to be changed into His image." 2 
We have, therefore, some conception of the 
perfect sanctification carried on in heaven. 
Nor will this perfecting of the saints obliterate 
all distinction. " One star differeth from 
another star in glory." 3 Peter and John were 
very different as fishermen, as disciples the 
contrast was as strong, as apostles and aged 
saints they retained their striking individual- 
ities, and in glory they must reflect each in 
his own manner the beauty of the Lord, and 
glorify Him in different stations and services. 
And the peculiarities of Christian talents and 
characters which distinguish our friends here, 
will be noticeable there. Their special 
1 Col. ii. 9. 2 II Cor. iii. 18. 3 1 Cor. xv. 41. 



RECOGNITION BY CHARACTER. 121 

adaptation for their present work will be more 
apparent when engaged in that for which 
they are now preparing. The skill and 
delicacy in handling of tools by an apprentice 
causes his master to look for him in after life 
among those whose nice carving creates 
admiration, but his companion, as good a 
workman, will be sought among those whose 
frames for buildings and bridges may be 
depended upon. The Captain of our salva- 
tion is now preparing each Christian for his 
office and service in the ranks of his hosts 
above. As we know them while in training, 
we shall recognize them in that unnumbered 
multitude by their developed powers and 
peculiarities. Mary will find undisturbed 
delight at Christ's feet, hearing His words, 
and Martha will serve Him with unwearied 
activity. They will be recognized by these 
traits, yet Mary will be more communicative 



122 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

and Martha more receptive. Dr. A. A. 
Hodge, in his "popular lectures/' says, "The 
recognition of friends then will not be the 
recognition of souls through the remembered 
features of the body, but rather the recogni- 
tion of persons through irradiating charac- 
teristics of their souls. When we rise on 
that great Easter morning, and our new 
senses sweep the historic generations of the 
redeemed, we will know the great masters of 
thought and song, and the great leaders of 
the sacramental hosts in instant glance, from 
our long knowledge of their thoughts and 
deeds. And when in the centre of the hosts 
we meet the Object to which all thoughts and 
hearts converge, there will be no need of 
introduction between the glorified Lord and 
his glorified servant, however humble he may 
be. The instant, rapturous recognition will be 
mutual and spontaneous : Rabboni ! Mary ! " 



IX. 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS 

HABERE have been cases of long absences 
— as of children stolen from their parents, 
brought up under strange circumstances, and 
developed under influences foreign to their 
birth — in which recognition would seem almost 
impossible. A child of refined parents has 
lived until manhood among savages, or a peas- 
ant's babe has been reared as the prince for 
whom he had been substituted. In such 
cases the ordinary methods of identification 
and recognition, which we have considered, 
are of no avail. Sight can discern nothing in 

"the Ruler of all Egypt" that bears the 

123 



124 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

slightest resemblance to the lad sold to the 
Ishmaelites. The conversation which took 
place between Joseph and his brethren on 
business, or at the feast in his house, gave no 
mspicion of his identity. The character 
manifested by him was so unlike the 
" dreamer of dreams n and the favorite of his 
father, that they could not believe his most 
positive assurance. When, after forty years, 
Moses returned to Egypt, he was unrecog- 
nized. The long period had produced great 
changes in his appearance, and the protracted 
discipline had transformed the violent re- 
venger into the meekest of men. His work 
of deliverance was thereafter effected, not by 
his violence or political influence, but as the 
mouthpiece of Jehovah and by the miracu- 
lous power of God. In the case of Joseph, 
he was gradually made known to his brethren 
bv his speech in their tongue, and by his 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS. 125 

knowledge of their names and of the details 
of their early life. The Israelites recognized 
their deliverer through God's testimony by 
miracles. But more frequently some mutual 
friend, like Barnabas, must testify of the 
experiences of a Saul, his wonderful trans- 
formation of character, and his zeal and 
activity in the common cause. This is 
especially necessary when the separation has 
been long, when it began from early child- 
hood and when the change in character is 
very decided. Shakspeare has rightly de- 
scribed the testimony of the old shepherd 
as essential that Perdita had been constantly 
under his care, since he found her a babe on 
the shore with the evidences of her birth. 

The changes wrought in eternity are mar- 
vellous and advance with strange rapidity. 
The infant of a few days develops more 
perfectly under Christ's nurture than those 



126 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

who have grown up under our guidance. 
We think of our child as a babe, because taken 
from our arms almost as soon as we had em- 
braced him, but he has matured more rapidly 
than his brothers, and beyond our own possi- 
ble development on earth. We received the 
child from the Lord. We consecrated him to 
God. We claimed His promise to us and to 
our seed. When He called the little one to 
Himself, we said, "It is the Lord, let him do 
as seemeth Him good." ' He encouraged us to 
say, " I shall go to him, but he shall not return 
to me." 2 When therefore the Lord " shall come 
to receive us also to Himself," 3 it is according 
to Scripture to believe that He will present to 
us the child whom He has enriched with all 
His covenanted glory. When " the angels 
shall carry us into Abraham's bosom," 4 they 

> I Sam. iii. 18. 2 JI Sam. xii. 23. 

s John xiv. 3. 4 Luke xvi. 22. 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS. 127 

will bring us to those of the household of faith 
who by providence and grace have been most 
intimately identified with us. When "we 
shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all 
the prophets in the Kingdom of God," l each 
one will be made known unto us. Our na- 
tures remaining essentially the same, we will, 
in our communion with saints, long after 
those who have preceded us into glory. If 
neither eye, nor ear, nor perception of char- 
acter will enable us to discern them in the 
happy throng, ministering angels and saints 
will bring the loved ones and tell us of the 
experiences and methods by which they have 
attained their perfection. 

All this would naturally be expected, were 
it God's will that our present human relation- 
ships be continued hereafter. It may be said, 
however, that Christ has intimated that such 
' Luke xiii. 28. 



128 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

is not His will. " The children of this world 
marry and are given in marriage, but they 
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain 
that world, and the resurrection from the 
dead, neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage ; neither can they die any more, for 
they shall be equal unto the angels, and are 
the children of God, being the children of the 
resurrection." 1 We should notice, however, 
that Christ is here speaking of marriage as 
a divine ordinance for the raising up of 
seed. In that world there is to be no in- 
crease by births nor decrease by death. In 
this respect the saints shall be equal to angels. 
He does not deny that present intimacies 
are to be continued. Eelationships exist 
among the angels. They are not indeed like 
men set in families. They are placed in 
ranks, associated in similar service, and co- 
> Luke xx. 34-36. 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS. 129 

operate in long-continued joint work. They 
are brought in peculiar relations to the elect 
as ministering spirits; to infants — a in heaven 
their angels do always behold the face of My 
Father which is in heaven 5 " and to nations, 
as revealed in the prophecy of Daniel. In the 
book of Revelation they are described as 
holding peculiar relations to the Elders, to 
the souls under the altar, to each other, and 
in reference to the last plagues, anti-Christ, 
Babylon, lost men and wicked spirits. 

The relationships among men are very mul- 
tiform. The text does not deny this. It re- 
fers only to one — that of marriage^ and this 
only as designed for the procreation of chil- 
dren, which it says in that respect shall not 
be continued. Elsewhere it is asserted that 
all human relations were ordained to reveal 
those spiritual and permanent ones which we 
maintain toward God and toward each other. 



130 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

Almost all we know, of our standing with God, 
our union with Christ, our connection with 
the Holy Ghost, our association with each 
other and all saints, and of the plan of salva- 
tion and the methods of its application, has 
been illustrated and typified by our present 
relations with each other. 

And the intimacies of heaven are symbol- 
ized in the same manner. The covenant 
founded on the connection between parents 
and their children is God's favorite method 
of declaring and transmitting His grace. By 
cherishing in us a special interest toward our 
children according to the flesh, He secures 
continuous and self-denying efforts to bring 
them to faith and godliness. To faithful 
parents He has made promises, spiritual 
and eternal. To obedient children, He has 
pledged long life in the land, only as the evi- 
dence of an unending inheritance in the 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS. 131 

real Canaan. The spiritual are the true 
seed of Abraham, but there is an emphasis 
laid also upon the seed according to the flesh, 
who, when also spiritual, shall be more glori- 
ous and beloved than those who are begotten 
only by faith. We are so taught in Romans 
xi. 12-24 : " If the fall of them be the riches 
of the world, and the diminishing of them the 
riches of the Grentiles, how much more their 
fulness 1 w "If the casting away of them be 
the reconciling of the world, what shall the 
receiving of them be but life from the dead % n 
u God is able to graft them in again." "How 
much more shall these which be the natural 
branches, be grafted into their own olive 
tree ? v These human relationships were 
designed as types. If they represent a per- 
manent union with Christ, they must also be 
permanent. If they exhibit temporary affini- 
ties, they will remain as long as Christ con- 



132 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

tinues in those attitudes. Such is the conclu- 
sion taught by reason and the plan of God. 
Throughout the Old Testament men were set 
apart as sacriflcers, to present bloody offerings 
in behalf of the people unto the Lord, because 
through all those ages Christ was preparing 
Himself and His people for u offering of the 
body of Jesus Christ once for all." x But this 
being accomplished, He ceased to be a sacri- 
ficer. " After He had offered one sacrifice for 
sin, forever, He sat down on the right hand of 
God." 2 There can therefore be no more 
priests among men. He continues " to rec- 
oncile us to God," 3 and there are ambassadors 
who pray you in Christ's stead, "be ye recon- 
ciled to God." 4 He makes " continual inter 
cession for us " 5 — and we are exhorted " that 
first of all, supplications, intercessions and 

1 Heb. x. 10. 2 Heb. x. 12. 3 Epb. n. 16. 

4 II Cor. v. 20. 5 Heb. vii. 25. 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS. 133 

giving of thanks be made for all men." 1 The 
relationships which are expressed by the 
Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of Christ, 
and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost are per- 
manent. They are described as not in any 
way identified with our stay on earth. They 
are not fully realized here. Our Father is in 
heaven. We are co-heirs of an inheritance 
yet to be revealed. And the Spirit does not 
now testify of Himself. We have only a fore- 
taste, a dim conception, of our union with the 
triune God. Until all this be fully realized 
throughout eternity, the types, our human 
relationships, must continue. There shall be 
the true " seed of Abraham," " the twelve 
tribes of Israel," fathers and their children to 
many generations, brothers and fellow laborers. 
And these will forever reveal to us the inti 
macy of our union with God. 

1 I Tim. ii. 1. 



134 RECOGNITION- AFTER DEATH. 

Indeed some of these types have no real 
fulfilment in this life. The marriage of the 
Lamb shall not take place until, u the first 
heaven and the first earth have passed away," 
until all the elect have been gathered, and 
"the new Jerusalem, coming down from God 
out of heaven, has been prepared as a bride 
adorned for her husband." * It would seem 
therefore that the marriage relationship, in its 
highest conception of perfect love, confidence, 
sympathy and helpfulness, shall continue and 
forever reveal the fulness of our union with 
Christ. 

It is then the will of God that these rela- 
tionships shall be perpetual. It is not merely 
fleshly instinct, but a divinely implanted 
principle, which leads us to long after our 
loved ones, to be gathered to our fathers, and 
to see again the children which God has 
• Rev. xxi. 1, 2. 



RECOGNITION THROUGH OTHERS. 135 



graciously given us and who shall forever rise 
up and call us blessed. And it is to be ex- 
pected that God, the angels and the saints 
will renew our relationships to those from 
whom we are now separated, and bring us to 
those whom we would not otherwise have 
readily recognized. Rev. Archibald Alexan- 
der, D. D., in his " Religious Experience/' 
Chapter XXII, says, " As here knowledge is 
acquired by the aid of instructors, why may 
not the same be the fact in heaven % What a 
delightful employment to the saints who have 
been drinking in the knowledge of God and 
Cis works for thousands of years to communi- 
cate instruction to the saints just arrived ! 
How delightful to conduct the pilgrim, who 
has just finished his race, through the ever 
blooming bowers of paradise, and to introduce 
him to this and the other ancient believer, 
and to assist him to find out and recognize, 



136 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

among so great a multitude, old friends and 
earthly relatives. There need be no dispute 
about our knowing, in heaven, those whom 
we knew and loved here ; for if there should 
be no faculty by which they could at once be 
recognized, yet by extended and familiar 
intercouse with the celestial inhabitants, it 
cannot be otherwise but that interesting dis- 
coveries will be made continually 5 and the 
unexpected recognition of old friends may be 
one of the sources of pleasure which will 
render heaven so pleasant." 



X. 



RECOGNITION BY OTHER MEANS. 

\I 7"E have now considered four methods 
by which souls after death may be 
recognized. Any one of these may be em- 
ployed and would render us certain as to the 
identity of our friends. Often two or more 
means will be used, and thus increase the cer- 
tainty. We may be introduced by angels or 
saints j and at first accept without hesitation 
the delightful assurance. But soon, as here 
on earth, the features, however changed, will 
reveal traces of the face we have long cher- 
ished, and we will more and more perceive 

that it is the very same, developed and sane- 

137 



138 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

tified. As we converse, familiar peculiarities 
of thought and expression will be recognized, 
and joint experiences will be recalled, until 
the long separation seems insignificant. As 
we draw nearer to each other our inward 
characteristics will reveal themselves, former 
misunderstandings will be removed, and the 
real personality of each will be more apparent 
in our renewed intimacy. Much of our ever- 
increasing joy in the communion of saints 
and of our loved ones, will consist in this 
increasing recognition and ever clearer ap- 
preciation of each other's characters, as beau- 
tified and perfected by divine grace. 

All this would be true, were we to possess 
only present known faculties, developed and 
made unerring. We have reason, however, 
to believe that new powers will be granted to 
us, of which we now, of course, can form 
no conception. A blind man may hear 



RECOGNITION BY OTHER MEANS. 139 

labored descriptions of sight and of the 
beauties by which he is unconsciously sur- 
rounded. No illustrations can enable him to 
form any conception of the closed avenue of 
sense nor of the vast fields of beauty to which 
it leads. The servant of the prophet had no 
idea of the spiritual forces by which they were 
protected. He saw only the mighty hosts of 
the Syrians which compassed the city. But 
when Elisha prayed and spiritual perception 
was given, u He beheld the mountains full of 
horses and chariots of fire round about 
Elisha." ' The caterpillar knows not what 
organs he will have when as a butterfly he 
comes from the cocoon. When we lay aside 
the earthly and enter upon our heavenly 
state, new faculties will doubtless be added 
to our present senses, by which other means of 
acquiring knowledge, and new wonders shall 
1 II Kings vi. 17. 



140 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TM. 

be opened to us. By these new faculties and 
powers we will also perceive and recognize 
our friends. Perhaps even here at times we 
receive impressions through organs not yet 
developed. Sometimes we become conscious 
of the presence of a friend, when none of our 
five senses has been or could be exercised. 
He has entered a crowded room, silent and 
out of sight, but we perceive his entrance 
and approach. In a large assembly we 
discern one with whom we desire to speak. 
As we earnestly look at him, and are eager 
for his attention, he knows not why he is 
uncomfortable, irritable, and nervously con- 
scious that he is wanted, until he raises his 
eyes and meets our gaze. We can not 
explain this, nor many other methods by 
which some persons obtain and receive infor- 
mation, yet we can not deny the fact. They 
seem to be intimations of means of recogni- 



RECOGNITION BY OTHER MEANS. 141 

tion and communication, which shall be more 
direct and reliable than our bodily senses and 
the powers now exercised through them. 
And of this we may be sure, each new faculty 
for obtaining information will increase our 
knowledge of each other's persons, characters, 
and histories, and thus aid our mutual recog- 
nition. 



XL 



RESURRECTION". 



^HE resurrection of the body will greatly 
change our condition. Those who 
shall at the time be on earth, shall also pass 
at once into the resurrection state. " We 
which are alive and remain unto the coming 
of the Lord shall not prevent them which are 
asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel and with the trump of God: 
and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then 
we which are alive and remain shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds to 
meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever 



RESURRECTION. 143 

be with the Lord." x " We shall all be 
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall 
sound, and the dead shall be raised, and we 
shall be changed." 2 We must therefore con- 
sider what effect will the resurrection have 
upon recognition. 

That there will be a resurrection there can 
be no doubt. Christ tells us that it was 
revealed in the first books of the Bible. The 
plainest declaration in the Old Testament is 
in Daniel : u Many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to ever- 
lasting life and some to shame and everlasting 
contempt." 3 But Isaiah, Hosea and Ezekiel 
speak almost as clearly : " Thy dead men 
shall live, together with my dead body shall 
they arise." 4 "I will ransom them from the 

1 I Thess. iv. 15-17. 2 I Cor. xv. 51, 52. 

3 Dan. xii. 2. 4 Is. xxvi. 19. 



144 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

power of the grave, I will redeem them from 
death: O death, I will be thy plague. 
grave, I will be thy destruction." i 

At the time of Christ the two great parties 
among the Jews were the Pharisees and the 
Sadducees. The former held the doctrine of 
the resurrection, and the latter denied and 
ridiculed it. Christ in His disputations with 
them said to the Sadducees, " Ye therefore do 
greatly err," 2 while He confirmed the teaching 
of the Pharisees. The apostles from the first 
laid special stress upon the resurrection of the 
body. Paul tells us that everything depends 
upon this. " If there be no resurrection of the 
dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ 
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and 
your faith is also vain." " For if the dead 
rise not, then is not Christ raised, and if 
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; ye are 
1 Hos. xiii. 14. 2 Mark xii. 24-27. 



RESURRECTION. 145 

v et in your sins ; then the y also which are 
fallen asleep in Christ are perished." ' The 
object of the resurrection of Christ, its con- 
nection with redemption, its relation to our 
faith, and its effect upon our bodies, are 
matters of great moment and interest. But 
we are concerned at present only with the 
facts. Christ did rise from the dead, and 
there is to be a general resurrection at the 
last day. These two facts are here declared 
to be beyond doubt, and indisputable. They 
involve each other. If there be no resurrec- 
tion, Christ has not risen. If he has, then 
we also shall rise. If He rose literally, so 
shall we. In the previous verses, some of the 
many infallible proofs are presented, that " He 
rose the third day, according to the Scriptures," 
and was seen and recognized by the apostles, 
singly and in companies, and " after that by 
1 I Cor. xv. 13-18. 



146 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

above five hundred brethren at once." ' The 
resurrection of Christ being thus established, 
there can be no question nor doubt that there 
will be a general resurrection at the last day. 

The resurrection is sometimes used to de- 
note that marvellous transformation effected in 
the soul by the application of redemption by 
the quickening Spirit, and also to describe the 
consummation of the spiritual kingdom of 
Christ. It is however true, that a literal 
resurrection of these bodies has been promised 
and will be effected. Redemption is not 
partial, but complete. Man is composed of 
soul and body. As such he sinned and came 
under the curse which affected both parts of 
his nature. As such also he is saved, and 
must be acquitted at the last day and received 
into the glory purchased by the blood of 
Christ. His soul pardoned, cleansed, and 
1 I Cor. xv. 3-8. 



RESURRECTION. 147 

delivered, would be only a half triumph of 
Christ, and a partial salvation to man, if the 
other part of his nature were left under the 
destroying power of sin, death, and the devil. 
In this life we experience much of spiritual re- 
generation and sanctification, bat u we which 
have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we our- 
selves groan within ourselves, waiting for the 
adoption, to wit, the redemption, of our body." 
11 Because the creature itself also shall be 
delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
the glorious liberty of the children of God." l 

The terms used indicate that a bodily as 
well as a spiritual resurrection is promised. 
Indeed that which is taught by the type must 
be true of the type as well as of the antitype. 
If water means spiritual purification, it must 
be physically cleansing. If leaven indicates 
the progress of the kingdom of heaven in the 
> Eom. viii. 21-23. 



143 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

soul, it must have the power to leaven the 
whole lump. And if resurrection represents 
the awaking of the soul from the death of sin 
to eternal life, there must be a rising of the 
body from the grave and corruption to new 
life and activity. The terms used in Scripture 
necessarily predict a literal resurrection of 
the body, whatever may be their spiritual 
signification. Care is taken to specify those 
things which are connected with the body. 
Thus, " Thy dead men shall live, together 
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake 
and sing ye that dwell in the dust, for thy 
dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall 
cast out the dead." ! u And many of them 
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, 
some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt," 2 u Marvel not at 
this, for the hour is coming in the which all 
1 Is. xxvi. 19. 2 Dan. xii. 2. 



RESURRECTION. 149 

that are in the graves shall hear His voice 
and shall come. forth." 1 "Now is Christ risen 
from the dead and become the first fruits of 
them that slept." 2 "So also is the resurrection 
of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is 
raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is 
raised in power. It is sown a natural body, 
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a 
natural body, and there is a spiritual body." 3 
That which is sown, is raised. This is true 
of almost every text which speaks of the 
resurrection. 

The objections answered by Christ and by 
Paul were concerning the literal raising of 
these bodies. The difficulties are not ignored 
nor explained away. What is impossible 
with men, is possible with God. The infinite 
God can accomplish that which He has 
promised. u God giveth it a body as it hath 

i John v. 29. 2 1 Cor. x,v. 20. 3 1 Cor. xv. 42-44. 



150 R E CO GNITION A FTER DEA Til. 

pleased Him, and to every seed his own body ." ' 
The illustration which the Holy Ghost uses is 
very apt. The seed is imperfect, its real 
character undeveloped, and its beauty and use 
unknown, until it passes through decompo- 
sition. Ci It is not quickened except it die." 
If*sown, " it bears grain, it may chance of 
wheat or of some other grain." This last state 
is far more important and beautiful than the 
former. There are great changes, but it is a 
continuation of the same seed, a literal resur- 
rection of the same, a development of that 
which was contained in the seed. " So also 
is the resurrection of the dead." 2 

All scientific and other objections received 
the same solution. " Is the Lord's hand 
waxed short ? Thou shalt see now whether 
my word shall come to pass unto thee or not." 3 
u Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot 
> Cor xv. S3. 2 1 Cor. xv. 36-42. 3 Num. xi. 23 



RESURRECTION. 151 

redeem ? or have I no power to deliver % 
Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make 
the rivers a wilderness : .... I clothe the 
heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth 
their covering." l Can He redeem the soul, 
but be unable to restore the body % We are 
fools. The utmost of our knowledge is folly, 
compared with God's wisdom, and even with 
what we shall ourselves attain unto. We are 
very feeble. What is to us an absolute impos- 
sibility is accomplished as He speaks, at His 
touch. Shall we then judge that to be untrue 
which He has declared, or shall we set bounds 
to His ability to accomplish what He has 
promised % u Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but My words shall not pass away." 2 
il And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God, and the books were opened, and 
another book was opened, which is the book 
1 Is 1. 2, 3. 2 Matt. xxiv. 35. 



152 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

of life, and the dead were judged out of those 
things which were written in the books, accord- 
ing to their works. And the sea gave up the 
dead which were in it, and death and hell 
delivered up the dead which were in them, 
and they were judged every man according 
to their works." 1 

Some Christians do not want to believe in 
the doctrine of the resurrection. The body is 
the cause of much discomfort. It is a weight 
and drag upon the soul, the channel through 
which temptations come, the means by which 
sins have been committed, and the irresistible 
hindrance in every effort to do good. It is 
full of ailments, weakness, diseases, pain, 
and sometimes of long continued agony. 
From its torture, death is a relief. Many 
become impatient to be delivered from it, 
and when delivered, they want no more of it. 
' Eev. xx. 12, 13. 



RESURRECTION. 153 

They anticipate with pleasure the rapidity of 
motion of the disembodied soul, the freedom 
from sickness and suffering, and the liberty 
from the limitations of the few and feeble 
senses. The spirit life of angels is attractive, 
and after the enjoyment of spiritual liberty 
and activity for ages, the idea of a return 
to these miserable bodies is not a pleasant 
thought. 

This is not the true doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion. The Scriptures, while declaring that 
these same bodies shall be raised, as plainly 
describe the marvellous changes which shall 
take place in them, as they come from the 
graves, and as the living shall in a moment, 
in the twinkling of an eye, be changed, 
They will be beautified and adapted to the 
new environment, mode of existence, services 
and joy of the glorified souls. So far from 
being hindrances, they will greatly increase 



154 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

the means of activity and happiness of the 
redeemed. The body of Elijah is no clog to 
him in heaven. He and Enoch are repre- 
sented as far more highly favored and as 
holding a more enviable position than the 
disembodied souls. Even the body of our 
^ord is described as " glorious." Its posses- 
sion is part of His exaltation. 

After the resurrection " God shall wipe all 
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain, for the 
former things are passed away." ! The de- 
scription of the New Jerusalem, the bride, the 
Lamb 7 s wife, is indeed that of the dwelling 
place of the saints, but it is more especially 
of the perfection of the redeemed who enter 
there. " He who hath builded the house- 
hath more honor than the house." 2 The city 
1 Rev. xxi. 4. a Heb. iii. 3. 



RECOGNITION. 155 

winch is so resplendent can be inhabited only 
by those who are far more beautiful. The 
changes to be wrought in these bodies are 
described as very great. Like the seed which 
becomes a plant bearing grain. They are to 
be raised " in incorruption," " in glory," u in 
power," " spiritual bodies," " bearing the 
image of the heavenly." Of this then we may 
be assured. Our resurrection bodies will be 
perfectly adapted to our condition and service 
in heaven, that their possession will advance 
us in our spiritual development and glory, and 
render us more capable of enjoyment and 
service. 



XII. 

THE RESURRECTION BODY. 

A T first it may seem that we can form no 

adequate idea of the resurrection body. 

Nothing is said of that of Enoch. The record 

is short. All others died, u And Enoch 

walked with God, and he was not, for God 

took him." ] Elijah went up by a whirlwind 

into heaven in a chariot of fire and horses of 

fire. 2 And he was seen with Moses on the 

Mount of Transfiguration. We learn only 

that his body was adapted to his glorified 

condition. At the crucifixion " The graves 

were opened and many bodies of the saints 

i Gen. v. 24. 2 TI Kings ii. 11. 

156 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 157 

which slept arose, and came out of their 
graves, after His resurrection, and went into 
the holy city, and appeared unto many." ' 
These were evidently actual bodies, belonging 
to individual saints. They came from their 
graves, could walk on the earth, and enter 
Jerusalem, yet like spirits u appear n unto 
many. From the descriptions of the last day 
we gather no further information than that in 
the body every man shall stand before Christ 
and be judged concerning the deeds done in 
the flesh, and that such will be the nature of 
the bodies of the saints and of the wicked, 
that they shall meet the Lord in the air. 

Most of the terms used to describe the 
resurrection body are either indefinite or 
negative. "It is raised in glory" and "in 
power." " The dead shall be raised incor- 
ruptible, and we shall be changed. For this 
' Matt, xxvii. 52. 53- 



158 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

corruptible must put on incorruption, and this 
mortal must put on immortality/' » not subject 
to decay and death. Yet these terms indi- 
cate a marvellous superiority of the resurrec- 
tion body, although we may not be able to 
define the expressions "glory," "power." 
We notice that they are often used to 
describe the perfections of angels and even of 
God Himself. And they must therefore 
indicate high exaltation and beauty. The 
negative terms deny to our future body every 
thing that now mars them, renders them 
unattractive, or interferes with their activity. 
They shall not be subject to corruption or to 
death. Yet they are the same. " This 
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this 
mortal must put on immortality." 

Other terms seem at first contradictory, and 
irreconcilably so. " A spiritual body." 
1 I Cor. xy. 43, 52, 53. 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 159 

" There is a natural body and there is a 
spiritual body." " That was not first which 
is spiritual, but that which is natural, and 
afterward that which is spiritual." ' These 
expressions, however, deserve and will repay 
careful study. They will also confirm much 
that we have already ascertained. " A 
natural body " of course means the body 
which we have now on earth. And a " spir- 
itual body " describes that which we shall 
have after the resurrection. This is evident 
from the whole chapter. It is one and the 
same body. At first it is natural, and then, 
at the resurrection, it shall be spiritual. 
Nothing, perhaps, can be conceived as more 
opposite and irreconcilable in their properties 
than spirit and body. If these are by the 
Holy Grhost combined to give us a conception 
of the resurrection bodies, it is evident tha+ 
1 1 Cor. xv. 41-45. 



160 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

they must possess qualities very diverse. 
They must have those which belong to the 
body and those which characterize the spirit. 
As bodies they are material, composed of 
parts, subject to the laws of nature, can be 
seen and handled, have organs of perception, 
can walk, eat and drink, and come into 
contact with other material objects. As 
spirits they appear and disappear, vanish out 
of sight, move with incredible velocity, are 
not dependent upon the laws of nature, do 
not need earthly food, cannot be confined nor 
excluded by walls, can assemble in the air 
and ascend to the highest heavens with all 
the freedom of angels and other pure 
spirits 5 they experience no fatigue, and 
therefore need not sleep ; they are not lia- 
ble to disease or injury, neither are they 
enfeebled by age. They are not hampered 
nor limited in their development, but are 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 161 

perfect manifestations of character^ feeling 
and state. 

It may be difficult for us to conceive oi 
these opposite characteristics as belonging to 
the same object, the resurrection body. Yet, 
practically there is very little trouble when 
this description is applied to special cases. 
Those whom Christ raised from the dead — 
the ruler's daughter, the widow's son, and 
Lazarus at Bethany — were not awakened to 
resurrection but restoration to life, and so 
was Dorcas. They were brought back to 
continue their probation, to grow in stature, 
be a comfort to parents and sisters, to finish 
their appointed work on earth and to die 
once more. But in the cases before men- 
tioned the bodies were spiritualized, and 
ascended to heaven to die no more. The 
body of Enoch "was not, for God took him." 1 
» Gen. v. 24. 



162 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

He vanished, as did the angels when they 
ceased speaking to the patriarchs. Elijah 
went up into heaven, he " appeared w with 
the soul of Moses, and disappeared in the 
cloud which overshadowed them. The saints 
which came out of their graves could walk as 
men in the flesh, enter by the gates into Jeru- 
salem, and as spirits " appear w unto many, 
and be no more seen on earth. 

Of course the most perfect exhibition of the 
resurrection body is that of our Lord. It 
must not be supposed that His was an excep- 
tional case. Before death His body was like 
ours in every respect. It was born, in- 
creased in stature, was weary, hungered and 
thirsted, was liable to pain and to death. 
When He bowed His head and gave up the 
ghost, the physical symptoms were the very 
same as in other men. He was laid in the 
tomb with spices, " as the manner of the 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 163 

Jews is to bury/ 7 ' and His body was subject 
to the universal laws of the dead. And He 
rose in the same manner as we shall rise at 
the last day. Such is the argument in I Cor- 
inthians xy. The only distinction that can be 
made is concerning the power bv which He 
rose. " I lay down my life, that I might 
take it again. No man taketh it from Me, 
but I lay it down of Myself. I have power 
to lay it down and I have power to take it 
again." 2 We are to be raised by Him. "For 
the hour is coming in the which all that are 
in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall 
come forth ; they that have done good unto 
the resurrection of life, and they that have 
done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." ' 
His body was in all respects like ours. He 
was born, lived, died, was buried, and rose, 
as all other men must. If there be no resur- 
> John xix. 40. 2 John x. 17, 18. 3 John v. 28, 29 



164 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

rection for men, there could be none for 
Him. 

He is called, also, " the first fruits of them 
that slept." The first fruits were offered not 
only in a thanksgiving for the expected 
harvest, but also as an evidence and sample 
of that which was ready to be reaped. 
Christ's resurrection body assures us that we 
shall not be left in the grave, and reveals to 
us the kind of body " with which we shall 
come." This seems to be an unavoidable 
conclusion. We are not therefore surprised to 
read that u as we have borne the image of the 
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the 
heavenly." 1 " We look for the Saviour, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile 
body that it may be fashioned like unto His 
glorious body, according to the working where- 
by He is able even to subdue all things unto 
1 1 Cor. xv. 49. 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 165 

Himself." l u We know that when He shall 
appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see 
Him as He is." 2 This last expression, doubt- 
less, as many assert, refers to a spiritual con- 
formity to Christ, which shall be perfected 
when we come into His immediate presence 
and into full intimacy. Even this would 
necessitate also an outward resemblance to 
His person, for the external is, as we have 
seen, the manifestation of the internal. But 
the interpretation can not be restricted to 
change in character. We are now made like 
Him in graces. At death we are to be made 
perfect in holiness. The text speaks of a 
resemblance u which doth not yet appear." 
It promises that " He shall appear " again. 
His return in the flesh was the constant hope 
of the early disciples. We shall then " see 
Him as He is," in all His external and bodily 
i Phil. iii. 20, 21. 2 1 John iii. 2* 



1G6 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

glory, as well as in divine perfections. And 
when we shall thus " see the King in His 
beauty/ 7 1 " we shall be like Him/' as we 
rise to meet Him in the air. 

Let us therefore consider the glorious 
body of Christ as the " first fruits " of the 
resurrection. It was material and had all the 
functions of the body. It could be " han- 
dled/' " held by the feet." Thomas could put 
his finger in the print of the nails and thrust 
his hand into His side. " Behold My hands 
and My feet that it is I Myself, handle Me 
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones 
as ye see Me have." 2 He could touch His 
disciples, walk to Emmaus, take bread, bless 
and break it and give it to them. He could 
eat " a piece of a broiled fish and of a honey- 
comb." 3 " He breathed upon them," 4 and 

1 Is. xxxiii. 17. 2 Luke xxiv. 39. 

3 Luke xxiv. 42. * j lm X x. 22. 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 167 

u lifted up His hands and blessed them." * It 
is true that Mary did not at first recognize 
Him. But it was u early, when it was yet 
daik." 2 She was in great distress, believing 
that the dead body of her Master had been 
stolen. Her eyes were full of tears. She 
saw Him " as she turned herself back." 
But she had no thought that He was a spirit. 
" She supposed He was the gardener." 
When she really looked at Him, recognition 
was immediate and full. 2 There was nothing 
strange in His appearance, manner, or voice. 
It is also true that the seven disciples at the 
sea of Tiberias u knew not that it was Jesus." 
But it was in the early dawn, they were in 
their boats, having " that night caught noth 
ing." " They were two hundred cubits " from 
land, and "Jesus stood on the shore." John 
did soon recognize Him — " It is the Lord " 
1 Luke xxiv. 50. 2 Johii xs. 1-14. 



1G8 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

— and Peter did not hesitate. When they 
landed, " none o the disciples durst ask Him, 
Who art thou ? Knowing it was the Lord." 1 
There was nothing unnatural or unusual in 
His appearance. And the two who went to 
Emmaus, when He joined them, thought Him 
u a stranger in Jerusalem." It is distinctly 
stated that u their eyes were holden that they 
should not know Him," and that this con- 
tinued until He brake the bread, "and their 
eyes were opened and they knew him." 2 In 
all other cases the women and the disciples 
recognized Him at once. It is evident then 
that Christ had the same body, unaltered in 
appearance, with the same personal peculiar 
ities and powers as before the crucifixion. 

There are other facts which reveal that He 
possessed new and spiritual characteristics. 
He u appeared " unto His disciples, and He 

1 John xxi. 4-72. 2 Luke xxiv. 15-32. 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 169 

vanished out of their sight. The doors, closed 
for fear of the Jews, could not exclude Him, 
nor retain Him. He did not need to walk to 
Emmaus, for He returned to Jerusalem more 
rapidly, and appeared to Simon. He ate fish 
and honey, to satisfy His disciples, and not 
because he needed earthly food. He was free 
from the infirmities, necessities and limita- 
tions of the body. He possessed new powere 
and resources. He seems to have spent a 
greater part of those forty days elsewhere 
than on earth. This was no longer His 
abode. Only at times He u appeared," and 
soon disappeared. At last, while he was 
speaking, u He was taken up, and a cloud 
received Him out of their sight, and while 
they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He 
went up, behold two men stood by them in 
white apparel, which also said, " Ye men of 
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? 



170 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

This same Jesus which is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as 
ye have seen Him go into heaven." 1 This 
same Jesus, u with this spiritual body/' " glo- 
rious body/' now sits at the right hand of the 
Father, and will come again and call us from 
our graves, changed after the same image, to 
be forever with the Lord. 

His was therefore a true body, perfectly 
adapted to come in contact with men in the 
flesh and with material objects, and as per- 
fectly adapted to the spiritual liberty and 
state, and to His most glorious exaltation on 
the throne of His Father. We shall be like 
Him, when from the graves we shall meet 
Him in the air, be admitted to the new Jeru- 
salem, and range through the new heavens 
and the new earth. As there was no diffi- 
culty in recognizing Christ after His resurrec- 
1 Acts i. 9-11. 



THE RESURRECTION BODY. 171 

tion, there will be no hesitation in friend 
greeting friend when we gather, fully re- 
deemed, around the great white throne of our 
Elder Brother. The same means of recog- 
nition which we have already considered, 
will be even more effectual, and our communion 
with each other and all saints shall be perfect, 
and " we shall be satisfied, when we awake 
with His likeness." ' (Hebrew, " form.") 
1 Ps. xvii. 15 



XIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

HHE comfort to be derived from the 
recognition of souls after death is in- 
expressibly great. The forms of our friends 
are very dear to us. With them they are 
always associated, and through them we have 
learned their characters and feelings, and 
have held sweet converse. We cannot con- 
ceive of recognition without the appearance 
of these same loved forms. We are loath to 
commit them to the earth, and could scarcely 
bear the grief if the separation were to be 
perpetual. Indeed, in every affliction we look 
for consolation in three directions. We bow 

172 



CONCLUSION. 173 

in humble submission to the wise and loving 
will of God. "Not my will but Thine be 
done.' 7 ' u It is the Lord, let Him do as seem- 
eth Him good. 7 ' 2 We realize the rest into 
which our loved one has entered, his free- 
dom from sin and suffering, and his enjoy- 
ment of all that Christ has in reserve for His 
own. And by faith we appropriate and 
apply to our dead Christ's words, " A little 
while and we shall not see him, and again a lit- 
tle while and we shall see him," 3 and David's, 
"I shall go to Him. ,? 4 These three sources of 
consolation are really one. We recognize the 
love which has determined our purification by 
sorrow, and the perfecting of our departed 
one in glory, and we are eager to share the 
present and eternal blessedness with him and 
the Lord. Heaven seems more our home, as 

' Luke xxii. 42. 2 1 gam. iii. 18. 

3 John xvi. 16. < II Sara. xii. 23. 



.174 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

the members of our family there gather, and 
much of its happiness shall consist in renewed 
association, which shall never again be dis- 
turbed. All this has been suggested in the 
preceding pages, and needs not to be enlarged 
upon. 

The doctrine justifies the care which we 
naturally take of our bodies. Their highest 
value is, as the Scriptures tell us, that they 
are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and we 
are exhorted therefore not to defile them 
with sin or worldliness, but to keep their 
members pure for God's worship and service. 
11 If any man defile the temple of God, him 
shall God destroy, for the temple of God is 
holy, which temple ye are." 1 But this exhor- 
tation is further enforced by the fact that our 
bodies and their characteristics of form and 
feature are an essential part of our persons, 
' I Cor. iii. 17. 



CONCLUSION. 175 

and have been redeemed and are to be made 
perfect 7 even as our souls. Their organs have 
been consecrated to the service of Christ 
and must not be polluted. " With the tongue 
bless we God, even the Father ! and there- 
with curse we men, which are made after the 
similitude of God ! Out of the same mouth 
proceedeth blessing and cursing ! My breth- 
ren, these things ought not so to be." ' 
il Know you not that your bodies are the 
members of Christ % Shall I then take the 
members of Christ and make them the mem- 
bers of an harlot ? God forbid." 2 " We must 
yield ourselves unto God and our members 
as instruments of righteousness unto God." 3 

Our forms and features are not of temporary 

importance but of permanent value. They 

are not as a scaffold which is to be discarded 

when the building is erected. We are to be 

i James iii. 9, 10. 2 I Cor. yi. 15. 3 Rom. vi. 13. 



176 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

ever associated with them. In them we are 
to live, by them we are to know and to be 
known, and through them we are to operate 
forever, praising God and blessing others. 
We ought, therefore, to guard their beauty, 
develop their powers, and see that they 
always truly represent our real characters and 
reveal fche grace which we have received 
from Christ. All should " take knowledge 
of us that we have been with Jesus." * For 
the same reason we should be careful of the 
features of others, lightening their counte- 
nances, and rejoicing in their spiritual beauty 
and conformity to the image of Christ. 

Abraham bought a field and a cave for a 
possession of a burying place, and there 
buried his dead. 2 Jacob charged his sons, 
" I am to be gathered unto my people : 
bury me with my fathers." 3 The sepul- 

i Acts iv. 13. 2 Gen. xxiii. 20. 3 Gen. xlix. 29. 



CONCLUSION. 177 

chres were guarded with care, as was that of 
David, for many generations. " Grod buried 
Moses in the valley in the land of Moab, v ' 
and "Michael the archangel, contending 
with the devil, disputed about the body of 
Moses." 2 And angels sat on the stone, and 
" at the head and at the feet where the body 
of Jesus had lain." 3 It is right, therefore, to 
respect the resting places of those that sleep. 
Their bodies must see corruption, but they 
are precious and shall come forth again with 
new beauty to die no more. Christ did not 
reprove the Scribes and Pharisees because 
"they built the tombs of the prophets and 
garnished the sepulchres of the righteous " ; 
but because while doing so they were like 
their fathers, persecuting those of whom the 
prophets and righteous men had spoken, and 
were " filling up the measure of their 
1 Deut. xxxiv. 6. 2 Jude, 9. 3 John xx. 12. 



178 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

fathers." ] He Himself said of His friend, 
u Where have ye laid him ? " And u Jesus 
wept" 2 when He came to the grave. The 
places are holy where the bodies of saints 
await the resurrection and are often called 
" Grod's acres." They should be kept beauti- 
ful, adorned with the emblems of immortality. 

Some may find a tendency to idolatry in 
the decoration of graves, as an offering of 
reverence to the bodies and ascribing a 
virtue to the bones. But sin finds occasion 
to sin in all things. The act itself is holy. 
We surround the tomb with symbols of our 
faith that the end is not yet, that though 
these bodies have returned to the dust, they 
shall come forth again, and that the resurrec- 
tion is a certainty, which we are eagerly 
anticipating. 

The custom of cremation, which some are 
i Matt.xxiii. 29-32. 2 j h n xi. 34, 35. 



CONCLUSION. 179 

introducing, is anti-Christian, notwithstand- 
ing the arguments which may he educed in 
its favor. It has no countenance in Script- 
ure. The bodies of Saul and of his sons 
were burnt by the valiant men of Jabesh- 
gilead. But they had been mutilated and long 
exposed, and were probably burnt to pre- 
vent farther desecration by the Philistines. 
" Their bones were buried under a tree at 
Jabesh." ' Amos speaks of the burning of 
those who died in a plague, and probably for 
that reason. 2 The early church denounced it 
as a heathen custom, as dishonoring the body 
and suggesting the denial of the resurrection. 
Many who now advocate cremation have no 
faith in the literal rising of the dead, and not 
a few discard Christianity. In Scripture fire 
is the type of destruction, complete and with- 
out remedy, the condemnation due for sin. 
1 I Sam. xxxi. 11-13. 2 Amos vi. 10. 



180 RECOGNITION AFTER DEA TH. 

This is true even when purification by fire is 
spoken of. The gold is not injured, but its 
impurities are burnt. The Christian is de- 
filed with sin, which afflictions cause him to 
perceive and hate. The sin shall be entirely 
removed and the tried saint perfected. In 
sacrifices the animal was regarded as bearing 
the transgressions of the people, and, being 
under condemnation, it was consumed from 
the altar. In a few cases the bodies of crim- 
inals were burnt, to indicate the greatness of 
their sin and the unending character of their 
punishment. u And Joshua said, Why hast 
thou troubled us ? The Lord shall trouble 
thee this day. And all Israel stoned him 
with stones, and burned them with fire, after 
they had stoned them with stones, and they 
raised over him a great heap of stones unto 
this day." l Cremation, therefore, signifies a 
1 Joshua vit. 25, 26. 



CONCLUSION. 181 

denial of the resurrection, and that the body 
is irredeemably under the curse of sin. 
Burial is in hope of the resurrection, in faith 
in the redemption of the body, and in love 
for those whom we shall see again with the 
Lord. 

There is another precious thought involved 
in the recognition after death. We have an 
instinctive desire to see our loved ones, and 
prophets and righteous men essentially ar» 
they were while on earth. To be assured of 
their identity and to hold sweet converse on 
eternal things would only half satisfy us, if as 
to appearance and personal characteristics 
they are to have no connection with their 
earthly lives. The brethren of Joseph found 
no pleasure in him, the Egyptian, the second 
ruler of the land, although thus he was able 
to feed and to advance them. But with joy 
they greeted him, when as a son " he fell on 



182 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

his father's neck, and wept on his neck a 
good while/' and when he was not ashamed 
to acknowledge their trade as shepherds, 
though u every shepherd is an abomination 
unto the Egyptians." l In heaven we shall 
find not merely glorified saints, bearing the 
names of those who once lived on earth, but 
men, identified with earthly histories, sancti- 
fied. We shall not wonder how this Abra- 
ham could ever have been a stranger and pil- 
grim in the land, paid tithes to Melchisedek, 
offered up his son Isaac, and been called the 
father of faithful. His very person will 
bring all these scenes before us. Moses 
will appear as when he stood before 
Pharaoh, divided the Red Sea, came down 
from Sinai with his face shining with glory, 
and as he stood on Pisgah and viewed the 
promised land. David will be the sweet 
i Gen. xlvi. 29-34. 



CONCLUSION. 183 

singer of Israel, and Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel 
and all the prophets will recall to us their 
past trials as they forever foretell future 
glory. We long to see each of the apostles 
individualized and associated with gospel 
scenes. And so with later saints and person- 
al friends. Remembered histories will possess 
new charms in the midst of the actors who 
taught, suffered, fought and died for the 
precious faith. 

To see Christ in His glory will be rapture 
indeed. But still greater will be the joy of 
beholding that He retains His humanity, the 
very body that bore our sins on the tree, 
"the Lamb as it had been slain," J wounded foi 
our redemption. We are often troubled be- 
cause even faith cannot draw His features, nor 
imagine how He appeared in the flesh when 
He went in and out among men. But we 
1 Rev. v. 6. 



184 RECOGNITION AFTER DEATH. 

shall be gratified. We shall see what at- 
tracted the twelve, gave Peter his boldness, 
drew forth John's love, excited the faith of 
sufferers, encouraged the timid and brought 
sinners to his feet. His delight ' in His 
Father's work, interest in His doctrine, His 
pity for the ignorant and love for His own 
shall be witnessed by us. We shall see 
Jesus, and realize what He was, and is, and 
ever shall be, the Son of Man. And we 
shall perceive, what now we cannot, how 
fully He has also entered into all the experi- 
ences though which we have passed, and by 
which He has brought us to glory. 



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Sk2tches," " Popular Geology," " Cruise of the Betsey," " Essays," 
and " Headship of Christ." 

These are sold only in sets ; but the separate works can be still 
got at the former prices, as follows : — 

Footprints of the Creator 1.50 

Old Red Sandstone 1.50 

Schools and Schoolmasters 1.50 

Testimony of the Rocks 1.50 

Cruise of the Betsey 1.50 

Popular Geology 1.50 

First Impressions of England 1.50 

Tales and Sketches 1.50 

Essays 1.50 

Headship of Christ 1.50 

Life of Miller. By Bayne. 2 vols 3.00 

" Was there ever a more delightful style than that in which his 
works are written? Smooth and easy in its flow, yet sparkling ever 
more, like the river as it reflects the sunbeam, and now and then rag- 
ing with torrent-like impetuosity, as it bears all opposition before it." 
—Rev. Dr- W. M. Taylor. 

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